TN man sentenced to death for murdering brother, minor girl

COIMBATORE: The special court for the trial of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Coimbatore district on Wednesday awarded death sentence to a 30-year-old man for murdering his brother and a minor girl in a case of caste killing in Mettupalayam in 2019.
Judge K Vivekananthan sentenced the accused, Vinothkumar, to death by hanging under Section 302 (murder) (two counts) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was also sentenced to one year of imprisonment under Section 448 (house trespass) and fined Rs 1,000.
The judge observed that the accused committed criminal trespass to kill the victims. He noted that the murder fell under the rarest of rare category, as it was driven by caste hegemony, targeting the couple for living beyond caste distinctions.
The court acquitted three others -- R Kanthavel, 26, S Iyappan, 36, and R Chinnaraj, 40 -- all residents of Mettupalayam.
According to court sources, Vinothkumar’s younger brother, K Kanagaraj, 22, a daily wage earner from Vellipalayam Road near Mettupalayam, was in love with C Varshinipriya, a 16-year-old girl.
"While Kanagaraj belonged to the most backward community, Varshinipriya was from the Scheduled Caste. Vinothkumar, also a daily wage earner, refused to accept the relationship and repeatedly urged Kanagaraj to end it. The siblings often fought over the issue. However, Kanagaraj sought his father Karuppasamy’s help to arrange the marriage. His father advised him to stay in a separate house for the time being, promising to arrange the marriage once the situation settled."
Kanagaraj rented a house in the Sri Rangarayan Odai area on the Vellipalayam Road in June 2019 and started living with Varshinipriya, the source said. "When Vinothkumar came to know about this on June 25, 2019, he discussed his plans with his friends Kanthavel, Iyappan, and Chinnaraj. That evening, he went to Kanagaraj’s house and attacked the couple with a sickle. Kanagaraj died on the spot, while the girl succumbed to her injuries two days later in the hospital."
The source added that Kanthavel, Iyappan, and Chinnaraj allegedly assured Vinothkumar of their support before and after the murder. The Mettupalayam police registered a case against all four and arrested them.
During the final arguments on Wednesday, special public prosecutor Bhavani B Mohan described the case as rarest of rare and argued that it was not just a murder but an atrocity committed in the name of caste. He urged the court to impose a life sentence without remission, making it an example to deter such crimes.
The girl’s mother, who witnessed the murder, demanded the maximum punishment for Vinothkumar, stating that he killed her daughter in front of her.