10 awarded life term in Tamil Nadu's 2015 Gokulraj murder case
The victim Gokulraj was allegedly murdered for speaking to a 'higher' caste girl in Namakkal district in 2015
A special court in Madurai, on Tuesday (March 8), awarded life sentences to 10 persons involved in the killing of a youth named Gokulraj for speaking to a ‘higher’ caste girl in Namakkal district in 2015.
The court had earlier found 10 out of 17 the accused guilty in the killing of Gokulraj and acquitted five others. One on the accused had died during the course of the case and another is still absconding.
The court awarded life sentence to the prime accused Yuvaraj on three counts. Arun, Kumar, Sathish Kumar, Raghu alias Sridhar, Ranjith and Selvaraj were given the same punishment on two counts.
While delivering the judgment, Judge T Sampathkumar said that the life sentences would run concurrently.
Another accused, Chandrasekaran, has been awarded one life sentence and two others, Prabhu and Giridhar, have been awarded life sentences in addition to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and ₹5,000 fine each.
Gokulraj was abducted by a group of men on June 23, 2015 near a temple in Tiruchengode along with a woman friend. The next day, his headless body was found near the railway tracks in Namakkal district.
Also read: TN: 10 convicted for killing Dalit youth who spoke to woman of different caste
Speaking to reporters, public prosecutor Mohan said, “The accused had planned and executed the murder of Gokulraj after he was found speaking to a girl belonging to their caste (Kongu-Vellalar). The case, which was initially filed as person missing and suspected murder, was later altered to suicide. It is only after the autopsy was conducted on the body of Gokulraj, it was revealed that he was brutally murdered.”
Even though attempts were made to close the case as a suicide, the confession made by Sankar and Kumar, who were arrested a month later, turned the course of the case.
The accused had apparently forced Gokulraj to record a video and write a suicide note and the same was shared on the social media platforms to make everyone believe that it was a suicide. Subsequently, police arrested the others involved in the crime.
Yuvaraj, who was the president of a Kongu-Vellalar caste-based outfit Dheeran Chinnamalai Peravai, had been running an information network to prevent inter-caste marriages between the members of the Gounder community and others in 2015.
