A ‘hair raising’ evidence that nailed murderer of Coimbatore child duo
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death penalty awarded to the lone surviving accused in the sensational Coimbatore sibling-murder case that had rocked the nation in 2010.
By : migrator
Update: 2019-08-01 20:54 GMT
Coimbatore
Terming the offence in Coimbatore in 2010, as “shocking” and “cold blooded”, a three judge bench headed by Justice RF Nariman, by a majority of 2:1, upheld the verdicts of the trial court and the Madras High Court to award death penalty to condemned convict Manoharan, saying that the offence fell under the “rarest of rare” category.
Manoharan and co-accused Mohanakrishnan, who was later shot dead in an encounter, had picked up the girl and her seven-year-old brother from outside a temple on October 29, 2010 when they were going to school. They tied the hands of both minor siblings and gang raped the girl before trying to poison them to death.
Though nine years have passed by, the sensational kidnap, rape and murder case of two siblings continues to haunt the minds of people in the State.
The siblings, a 10-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother, were abducted and murdered by cab driver Mohanakrishnan and his accomplice Manoharan on October 29, 2010. The girl was forcibly drowned in a canal near Pollachi after being raped by the duo.
During the course of investigation, the police shot dead Mohanakrishnan on November 9, 2010 when he attempted to escape from custody after grabbing a pistol from the cops and shooting at them while being taken in a police vehicle. On December 10, 2010, the police filed a charge sheet running up to 400 pages with statements from 121 witnesses before a judicial magistrate. In 2012, the Mahila court in Coimbatore awarded double-death penalty and triple-life term to Manoharan, the lone surviving accused in the sensational murder case. Manoharan had challenged this verdict in the Madras High Court, which dismissed the plea and upheld the lower court order. In 2014, Manoharan had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which on Thursday had upheld the death penalty.
Welcoming the order, Inspector Muthumalai (then a sub-inspector), who shot dead Mohanakrishnan when he tried to escape, said, “This maximum punishment awarded to Manoharan should be a deterrent against such heinous crimes committed on children.” The Inspector received a bullet injury on his stomach when Mohanakrishnan pulled out the pistol of Sub Inspector Jothi and shot him.
Explaining the intricacies in the case, the cop said, “A piece of hair of Manoharan, which was sticking to the dress of the girl victim, proved as crucial evidence to our investigation. His role was established through a DNA test”. More laws and regulations came into force only after the incident, which shook the conscience of the entire nation, said the Inspector, who is now serving in the Food Cell department of the CID.
A timeline of the case
- October 29, 2010: The ten-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother were abducted. The girl was raped and the boy was tortured before being drowned to death
- Police arrest Mohan alias Mohanraj alias Mohanakrishnan, a call taxi driver. On the same day, police recover the body of the girl from the PAP canal at Vavipalayam in Palladam taluk
- October 30, 2010: Boy’s body recovered from the PAP canal near Pollachi
- October 31, 2010: Manoharan, another accused and an associate of Mohanraj, is arrested
- November 8, 2010: Police take Manoharan and Mohanraj into custody for interrogation
- November 9, 2010: Mohanakrishnan shot dead by the police in Coimbatore after attempting to escape by assaulting police personnel
- June 23, 2011: Trial commences in the case against the second accused, as charges against the first accused are abated
- November 2, 2012: Mahila court awards double death sentence, three life terms and three years’ rigorous imprisonment to R Manoharan
- March 24, 2014: The Madras High Court upholds the Mahila court order on the death sentence
- August 1, 2019: The Supreme Court upholds death sentence to Manoharan in the case
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