Five persons sentenced to life

Five persons sentenced to life

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, April 25, 2015 :The II Additional District and Sessions Court here on Friday sentenced to life five persons for the murder of Kumar, a 27-year-old resident of Ashok Nagar, who belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community, in Mullakadu 4th Main bus stop on June 15, 2012.

Judge C.M. Joshi pronounced the quantum of sentence after the police produced all the five convicted persons, including 27-year-old Akshay, who had reportedly escaped from police custody on Wednesday after hearing the conviction order. The police found him in a lodge in Surathkal on Thursday.

The judge convicted Santosh Poojary, Goutam, Akshay, Goureesh and Harsharaj under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons) and 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) of Indian Penal Code. They were also convicted under Section 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Apart from awarding life sentence, the judge imposed a fine of Rs. 16,000 on each of them.

The court also directed the District Legal Services Authority to initiate proceedings for awarding compensation to Kumar’s mother Appi.

Santosh Poojary and four others attacked Kumar on June 15, 2012 when he was returning with his friends from a shop. The police said previous enmity led to the attack. Kumar died of stab injuries in a private hospital. The then Central Crime Branch police inspector Venkatesh Prasanna arrested the accused. Public Prosecutor Shivaprasad Alva examined 24 eye-witnesses, including Kumar’s friends.

Sunil Joshi, Judge, II Additional District and Sessions Court, has asked the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner to file before the court reports related to the payment of compensation to members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities who are victims of atrocities.

The judge made this observation in a judgment on the murder of Kumar, who belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. In the judgment, the judge mentioned that no report under Rule 12 (4) related to payment of compensation to the victim has been filed in the case of Kumar. The judge said no reports had been filed in any of the cases under the SC, ST Act pending with the court. The judge asked the Deputy Commissioner to forthwith submit reports under Rule 12 (4) in all cases pending before the court.

Courtesy: The Hindu