The fast track mahila court in Udhagamandalam on Monday sentenced a man to life in prison for the murder of three family members of a woman whom he was stalking in 2014.
The man, J. Lenin (27) from Wayanad in Kerala, had been in a relationship with a young woman who was studying hotel management in a college at Sultan Bathery in Kerala. The accused, who was working in a restaurant in the same area, had managed to get the woman’s phone number and the two were in a relationship. However, the woman broke ties with the accused a little while later. Later, when Lenin learnt that the complainant’s parents, residing at Marapalam in Gudalur in the New Hope police station limits, had begun making preparations to get her married, he planned to murder her.
Lenin is said to have broken into the victim’s house and attempted to murder her, when her mother Girija (45), grandmother Chinnammal (65), as well as her father, Joy, who was returning home from work tried to rescue her. Lenin is said to have inflicted serious injuries on the young woman and attacked the three family members who were trying to defend her, killing all three persons, while seriously injuring the young woman.
He is also said to have stolen a gold chain that he snatched from the neck of his former lover.
Following the murder, the accused was charged under sections 458 (lurking house trespass), 307 (attempted murder), three counts of murder (302), 392 (punishment for robbery) read with 397 (robbery or dacoity and 404 (dishonest misappropriation of property possessed by disease person at the time of their death) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was heard in the fast track mahila court in Udhagamandalam, with Special Public Prosecutor (Mahila Court) P. Senthil Kumar, appearing on behalf of the prosecution, appealed to the judge to impose a strict sentence on Lenin for the crime.
On Monday, Judge R. Sridharan found Lenin guilty of all charges. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murders with no possibility of remission, and was fined a cumulative amount of ₹ 35,000.
