A rewind of the gristly murders that shook the state before the Swathi case

Chennai

2015

BPO employee murders girlfriend: A 25-year-old BPO employee, Dinesh allegedly murdered his 22-year old girlfriend, Aruna at his apartment at Kelly’s in Chennai in March 2015. He brought her to his flat on Monday night as there was nobody at home. They reportedly spent a couple of hours together at the flat. Later, he picked up an argument with her. In a fit of rage, he hit her with a flower vase killing her on the spot. He dumped her body in the car and fled. Reports suggest Dinesh has been on the run for the longest time.

2004

NIT Trichy student murder case: In 2004, Akila A MCA student of NIT, Trichy, was attacked with a knife by A Bharadwaj, a final year BE mechanical engineering student of the SASTRA University. She died on the spot and the body lay in a pool of blood beside a staircase. The police removed it to hospital for post mortem. Following the murder, the police arrested Bharadwaj and a case was registered against him by the Thuvakudi police. According to the prosecution, the trial commenced in April. The Judge pronounced the verdict sentencing Bharadwaj to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs. 1,000.

1996

Pon Navarasu case:  Pon Navarasu, a student of Annamalai University’s medical college in Chidambaram was murdered on November 6, 1996. His body was dismembered and the body parts were scattered in different parts of Tamil Nadu. John David, a senior student at the same college surrendered to judicial custody and confessed to the murder. According to his confession, the murder took place while he was ragging Navarasu. John David was convicted of Navarasu’s murder and was given a double life sentence (to be served consecutively) in 1998. The gruesome nature of the murder caused a public outcry and the state government passed an anti-ragging ordinance criminalising ragging.

1984

Jayaprakash multiple murders: Jayaprakash murdered his sister, sister’s husband, their six-month-old child, two brothers of his brother-in law, wife of the brother in-law’s brother, her two daughters aged 6 and 2 and also an employee in their factory who was staying with them; one after the other on the same day from 3.30 pm to 10 pm in February 1984. He was sentenced to be hanged by neck till dead.

EARLY 1950’s

Alavandar  murder case: In early 1950s, businessman C Alavandar’s headless body was found in one of the coaches of the Indo-Ceylon Express. After a trial, Alavandar’s ex-lover Devaki and her husband Prabhakar Menon were found guilty of the murder and Justice AS Panchapakesa Iyer awarded a seven-year rigorous imprisonment sentence to Prabhakar for culpable homicide and sentenced Devaki to three years in prison.

1944

Lakshmanthan murder case: CN Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist was stabbed in Vepery on November 7, 1944 and died the next morning in hospital. A criminal case was filed and the suspects included Tamil film actors MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and NS Krishnan and director SM Sriramulu Naidu. While Sreeramulu Naidu was acquitted, Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and Krishnan were found guilty and convicted. They remained in jail till 1947. But after a fresh retrial, Bhagavathar and Krishnan were found to be innocent and acquitted.