The Madras High Court on Wednesday commuted to life the death sentence imposed by a trial court last year on one of the 13 convicts in the 2003 Kannagi-Murugesan honour killing case. However, it confirmed the life sentence imposed on nine of the convicts, including the woman victim’s father, C. Duraiswami.
A Division Bench of Justices P.N. Prakash and A.A. Nakkiran commuted the death sentence awarded to D. Maruthupandian, brother of the deceased woman, M. Kannagi, while answering a reference from the trial court and also an independent appeal preferred by him against the trial court’s September 24, 2021 verdict.
The Bench allowed appeals preferred by two other convicts, Rangasamy and Chinnadurai, and acquitted them of all charges. Further, they partly allowed an appeal preferred by Tamilmaran, a former Sub-Inspector of Police, and set aside his life sentence. He was sentenced to only two years in prison, on lesser charges.
