Ten people who were convicted in the murder case of Dalit youth Gokulraj in 2015, filed an appeal at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Monday, March 21, against the court order sentencing them to life imprisonment. They have also sought bail in the interim period. The 10, of the 17 accused in the murder case, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Madurai special sessions court on March 5. This includes main accused S Yuvaraj, President of Dheeran Chinnamalai Peravai, a Kongu-Vellalar caste-based outfit.
The High Court has asked the CB-CID and Gokulraj’s mother Chithra to file their responses. In June 2015, a 21-year-old Dalit man called Gokulraj was abducted from the famous Tiruchengode Arthanareeswarar temple and brutally killed on suspicion that he was in a relationship with a woman from the dominant Gounder community. Yuvaraj was accused of running an intelligence-network preventing inter-caste relationships between members of the Gounder community and others. Further, the Investigating Officer of the case, Deputy Superintendent of Police Vishnu Priya, allegedly died by suicide, due to the pressure she was facing while probing the murder.
The accused who are convicted include Yuvaraj, Arun, Kumar, Sankar, Arul Vasantham, Selvakumar, Yuvaraj’s brother Thangadurai, Sathishkumar, Raghu alias Sridhar and Ranjith. While 17 were arrested as accused in the case, five of them – Shankar, Arul Senthil, Selvakumar, Thangadurai and Suresh – were acquitted. During the course of the case, one person died while another accused is still absconding.
The accused were given the life sentence based on motive, CCTV visuals, interview given to a Tamil news channel and because they went absconding. “Most of the witnesses in the cases are officers and experts. Considering that the convicts have been in jail for a long time, the court should cancel the life sentence by the lower court, as well as provide them with bail during the intermittent period,” they had appealed.
The case came up for hearing in front of a bench of justices Subramanian and Sathish Kumar. The case was adjourned to April 11, and the CB-CID and Gokulraj’s mother Chithra were asked to file their responses.
The prime accused Yuvaraj was sentenced to three life sentences, which will run concurrently, and was levied a fine of Rs 15,000. Six others have been handed double life-sentences and one person has been awarded one life sentence. Two other convicts have been awarded life imprisonment, plus ten-years rigorous imprisonment along with a Rs 15,000 fine each. A total of Rs 1.10 lakh of fine has been levied on the 10 persons.