Our years have passed, but the corner around the Udumalai town bus stand remains fresh in public memory for the bloody attack that took place there in the March of 2016. Gowsalya and Shankar lived together hardly for eight months, after they got married without the consent of her parents. Marrying a Dalit boy had earned Gowsalya the enmity and hatred of her entire extended caste-Hindu family.
But, that did not matter to the couple. She had quit her studies and taken up a job at a tiles factory to support her husband’s education. On that fateful day, March 13, 2016, they had gone to the town to buy a new shirt for Shankar, for his college annual day celebrations. On their way back, on the busy main road, amid a traffic jam, the couple was attacked by machete-wielding goons.
A security camera installed at the junction captured the attack in vivid detail. The couple being surrounded, hacked repeatedly, bystanders running away, all of it in vivid detail. But when the video went to court, the lawyer representing the accused argued it was recovered after a gap of “four days” and hence there was a possibility that it could be manipulated.
The expert who analysed the video, they argued, was “not a proper one”. The prosecution, on its part, had argued that Chinnasamy paid `20,000 to the henchmen to kill Shankar. It supported the claim with the statement of a bank staff confirming the accused had withdrawn the cash from an ATM. The prosecution also claimed that it was Chinnasamy who arranged accommodation for the assailants in a lodge. The court, however, felt the chain of events had not been proven beyond doubt.
One, the prosecution failed to prove the accused had withdrawn money from the ATM, as it had failed to produce CCTV footage from the booth. The prosecution also failed to prove its claim about accommodation, or about Chinnasamy having “frequent contacts” with the assailants. The court said the prosecution had also failed to explain the delay in registering the FIR and its dispatch.
“We marshalled witnesses and submitted several evidences, including his call records. All were overlooked at the High Court,” says C Emiliyas, Additional Advocate General who represented the prosecution. Today, only those who attacked and murdered Shankar at the spot remain convicted. Those who ordered the murder, conspired with the attackers, have not been brought to justice. Gowsalya is still very sure that it was her father behind the murder.
“Acquitting Chinnasamy (her father) from the case is gross injustice done to Shankar,” she says. “I will not remain silent. I will fight till Shankar gets justice.” Gowsalya says that if her parents — Chinnasamy and Annalakshmi — had not conspired against them, Shankar would still be alive. “We would have led a peaceful life.” Annalakshmi believes it’s god’s grace that saved her. “We did no harm to anyone, and we welcome the court order.”
Shankar’s younger sibling Yuvaraj is distraught. “Murderers being punished will not bring the dead back to life, but it makes us feel the society is standing with us,” he says. “My parents were inconsolable when Shankar died. When the district court in Tirupur sentenced six of them to death, they felt a mild relief. They thought such verdicts would put an end to caste-based killings.”
Monday’s verdict, Yuvaraj says, is a big blow. Those who killed a person for no reason but his caste, have “walked free”. Of the 11 accused, the Tirupur district sessions court awarded death sentence to six persons. Three — Annalakshmi, her brother Pandithurai, and a minor — were acquitted. Those convicted filed an appeal in the higher court, after which the acquittal of Chinnasamy came. All charges against him have been dropped.
“I don’t want to comment on the verdict,” says Velusamy, Shankar’s father. “I had planned to pack the couple off to Bengaluru after Shankar’s classes got over. Days before that they killed him. Nothing said and done now can replace the loss the crime has caused in our lives.” Velusamy now has a government job in Udumalaipet given as “solatium”, but he does not feel like he got justice.
“The government advocate has decided to appeal against the verdict,” says DSP Vivekanandan, who investigated the case. “We conducted investigated over 120 people in connection with the case,” he tells Express. “We submitted five strong evidences against Chinnasamy, the prime accused. Besides, we even gave CCTV visuals, as a result of which death sentences were awarded by the session court.”
Vivekanandan says he saw the High Court verdict on TV. “As an investigating officer, I can only produce the evidence gathered. Only the prosecution and the government can decide if it wants to appeal against the case. The verdict is a shocking blow for the prosecution, and hence there will be an appeal”
When reducing the capital punishment awarded to the henchmen, the High Court bench said it was considering that they had no bad antecedents, and was offering them an opportunity to “reform themselves upon release and contribute to the society.”
K Balakrishnan, state secretary of the CPI(M) expressed concern that the outcome of the case could embolden casteists to commit more such crimes. He recommended the State government to review the role of prosecutors in the case. Thol Thirumavalavan of VCK and actor Kamal Haasan also condemned the outcome, but neither of the Dravidian majors or Congress reacted to the verdict.
Justice has been denied. This verdict shows that only henchmen get punished, while conspirators behind the crime walk away scott-free,” says Kathir of Evidence, a non-profit organisation. “This is not over. We will fight till justice is delivered.”
Looking back
July 12, 2015: Kausalya marries Shankar in Dindigul despite opposition from her parents Chinnasamy and Annalakshmi
March 13, 2016: A gang attacks Kausalya and Shankar near Udumalai Town Bus Stand.
Shankar dies in the attack
March 14, 2016: Chinnasamy surrenders in court
March 15, 2016: Three gang members arrested by a police team
March 29, 2016: Annalakshmi surrenders in court
April 2016: Trial of the 11 persons begins in Tirupur district sessions court
December 12, 2017: Tirupur district sessions court sentences six accused — Chinnasamy,
Jegadeesan, Manikandan, Selvakumar, Kalai Tamilvaanan and Madan to death;
Annalakshmi, maternal uncle Pandithurai and a 16-year-old relative acquitted
(With inputs from Madurai,Tirupur, and Chennai.)