Madurai court sentences 10 to life term for kidnapping girls

MADURAI: The Mahila Court in Madurai on Wednesday convicted and sentenced 10 persons, including two women, to life imprisonment in a case of kidnapping for ransom.

According to the prosecution, the 10 persons, who were accused in the case, kidnapped two girls and tried to extort money from their father, a businessman. The two girls, aged eight and four, were kidnapped in a car while they were going to a private school in Teppakulam, Madurai.

The incident occurred on November 16 in 2017. The kidnappers threatened to kill the girls if the ransom of Rs 1 crore demanded by the gang was not paid by the businessman. Teppakulam police registered a case against the kidnappers under Sections 364, 120 (B), 170, 341, 364 (A), 368 and 37 of IPC.

The key accused, Ravindran, hatched a conspiracy in order to avenge the family of Karthigaiselvam, the businessman, for non-payment of sufficient solatium to his family for the death of his father, who worked as an accountant in the complainant Karthigaiselvam’s company.

When the car was moving near Muthueswarar Temple at Teppakulam, the accused, who were wearing traffic police uniform, stopped the vehicle and pretended to conduct a search. The car driver was then attacked and the two girls were abducted from the vehicle.

The case was under trial in the Special Court. After examining the witnesses, Sessions Judge S Kirubaharan Mathuram pronounced all the 10 accused in the case guilty of kidnapping for ransom and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

The accused were identified as S Ravindran (40) of Sadasivam Nagar, Vandiyur, R Kannan alias ‘Pitchaikannu’ (46) of Amali Nagar, Tiruchendur, S Vairamuthu (33) of Asari Thoppu Street, Gandhinagar, K Manikandan (38) of Kaja Street, South Veli Street, J Gunasekaran (45) of Muthaliyar Colony, Sathamangalam, K Radhakrishnan (47) of Mathichiyam, Kaladevi (30) of Sadasivam Nagar, wife of Ravindran, Jeeva alias Jeevajothi (33) of Mathichiyam, K Maniraj (36) of Sattur, Virudhunagar district, S Chinnadhurai alias ‘High Court Durai’ (34) of Ambedkar Nagar, South Authoor, Tiruchendur.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 12,500 each on Ravindran, Kannan, Maniraj and Chinnadhurai and a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on Manikandan, Vairamuthu, Gunasekaran and Jeevajothi. A fine of Rs 5,000 each was imposed on Radhakrishnan and Kaladevi, sources said.