The special court for cases booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act here on Saturday convicted 10 persons, including Theeran Chinnamalai Gounder Pervai founder S. Yuvaraj, in the 2015 murder of V. Gokulraj, an engineering graduate belonging to the Scheduled Caste, in Namakkal district, after he was found visiting a temple with a girl belonging to an intermediate community. Five others arraigned as accused were acquitted.
The III Additional District Judge, T. Sampathkumar, will pronounce the quantum of sentence on March 8. The 10 persons were found guilty of offences committed under the Indian Penal Code, including murder, and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
On June 24, 2015, the body of Gokulraj was found with his head severed on the rail track near Pallipalayam in Namakkal district. The youth from Omalur in Salem district visited a temple with his friend Swathi, a Caste Hindu, on June 23, 2015. Following this, he was abducted by members of the caste outfit and murdered.
