11 years after family of seven burnt alive, Madurai court sentences three to eight life terms each
MADURAI: More than 11 years after seven members of a family were burnt alive at their house in Kumarapuram village near Sedapatti, the Madurai Additional District Court on Tuesday convicted three accused and sentenced each of them to eight life terms, besides 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 45,000.The court, presided over…
Key points
- This person is holding the additional charge of the Further District Court VI, found Pandeeswari (21), wife of Kannan; Murugeshwari…
- The court convicted all three under Section 120(b) of the IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a fine…
- The incident occurred in 2015 following a family dispute.
- The case was investigated by Deputy Superintendent of Police Gomathy.
MADURAI: More than 11 years after seven members of a family were burnt alive at their house in Kumarapuram village near Sedapatti, the Madurai Additional District Court on Tuesday convicted three accused and sentenced each of them to eight life terms, besides 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 45,000.
The court, presided over by Judge Udayavelavan. This person is holding the additional charge of the Further District Court VI, found Pandeeswari (21), wife of Kannan; Murugeshwari (40), wife of Thangavelu; and Rajapandi (19), son of Thangavelu, guilty of the charges.
The incident occurred in 2015 following a family dispute. Velu (60), his son Kannan (25), Velu’s wife Pechiyammal (55), Suganya (35), Sangeetha (17), Sanjith (12) and Vinith (10) were killed after their house was allegedly set ablaze by Pandeeswari and her mother and brother.
The murders followed a long-running marital dispute between Kannan and Pandeeswari. This person had registered their marriage in March 2013 after police intervention. While his family reportedly sought to end the marriage and have him remarry, kannan later left her and moved to Chennai for work.
What happened
On the night before the incident, the two families approached the Periyakattalai panchayat president to settle the dispute. Kannan’s family offered money to end the marriage, but Pandeeswari refused, leading to a fight with Kannan.
Police alleged that the dispute triggered the subsequent attack. In the early hours of May 20, 2015, Pandeeswari, along with her mother Murugeshwari and brother Rajapandi, locked Kannan’s family inside their house, poured fuel into it and set it ablaze. Kannan, his parents, sister and three children died in the fire. The Sedapatti police registered a case under Sections 120(b), 436, 302 and 307 of the IPC and arrested the three accused.
The court convicted all three under Section 120(b) of the IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 each. They were also sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 each under Section 436.
For the seven counts of murder under Section 302, the court awarded life imprisonment for each count and a fine of Rs 35,000, amounting to eight life sentences, 10 years’ imprisonment and Rs 45,000 in fines for each accused, with the sentences to run concurrently.
