CHENNAI: A day after the
Madras high court allowed the
Tamil Nadu government to move appeal against acquittal of
Udumalpet honour killing victim Kausalya's mother and two others, eight people convicted for the murder of her husband, Sankar, approached the high court on Wednesday assailing their conviction. The
convicts who moved the high court included her father, Chinnasamy, who was awarded death penalty.
Admitting the appeal, a division bench headed by Justice C T Selvam directed the Udumalpet DSP to file his response.
Sankar, who was a dalit and a native of Kumaralingam near Udumalpet, fell in love with non-dalit Kausalya, while they were studying in a private engineering college in Pollachi. They got married against the wishes of her parents. On March 13, 2016, a three-member gang hacked Sankar to death. Kausalya suffered injuries in the attack.
On December 12, 2017 the Tirupur district session court sentenced six people to death for the murder.
Of the 11 accused, six were sentenced to death. Three others, including her mother Annalakshmi, maternal uncle Pandi Thurai and a 16-year-old relative were acquitted of all charges while two others got lesser sentences.
Challenging the death sentence awarded to them, Kausalya's father Chinnasamy, Jegadeesan, Manikandan, Selvakumar, Kalai Tamilvaanan and Madan alias Michael moved the appeal.
Similarly, Stephen Dhanraj, who was awarded double life term, and Manikandan, who sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment, have also moved appeals challenging their conviction.
Sankar and Kausalya
