The Supreme Court, on Monday, April 28, dismissed appeals filed by the convicts in the infamous killing of an intercaste young couple – Kannagi and Murugesan – in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu in 2003. The apex court affirmed the Madras High Court's 2022 decision that upheld life sentences for nine convicts and acquitted two others. The apex court also directed that Rs 5 lakh compensation be awarded to the families of the victims.
A Bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice PK Mishra ruled that there was no merit in the appeals filed by eight of the convicts challenging their life sentences. The court also endorsed the High Court’s decision to commute the death penalty of Kannagi’s brother Marudupandian to life imprisonment.
The case pertains to the brutal killing of Kannagi, a woman from the Vanniyar community, and her husband Murugesan, belonging to a Dalit community. Murugesan was a chemical engineering graduate and Kannagi was a diploma holder. They hailed from the village of Puthukkooraippettai and had been in a relationship since their college days at Annamalai University in Chidambaram. The couple subsequently got married and secretly registered their marriage on May 5, 2003, while studying.
When the couple attempted to flee on July 7, 2003, they were caught by members of Kannagi’s family. The next day, they were taken to the village cremation ground, forcibly made to consume poison, and their bodies were burnt to make it appear as a suicide. Due to serious lapses in the local police investigation, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the insistence of Murugesan’s father. A final report was filed in 2009.
In 2021, a special court in Cuddalore sentenced Marudupandian to death and awarded life terms to 12 others, including Kannagi’s father. The 2022 Madras High Court judgment commuted Marudupandian’s sentence and acquitted two others. The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed these decisions and instructed the government to provide compensation to Murugesan’s parents.
According to The Hindu, the bench called the crime “barbaric” and emphasized the importance of upholding justice in cases involving caste-based violence and caste killings. The case is widely regarded as one of the earliest instances of documented honour killings in Tamil Nadu.
