CHENNAI: More than eight years after a trial court acquitted 23 people accused of killing a man during the 2013 Villupuram election contest, the Madras High Court on Tuesday overturned the order and convicted 21 of them and sentenced them to life imprisonment.A bench of Justices P Velmurugan and M Jothiraman said, “After careful re-evaluation of all the evidence on record, we find that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and proved that the accused were members of an unlawful assembly and that there was a common purpose to cause the death of the deceased.”According to the prosecution, there was previous animosity between Bhaskar and Krishnaveni over the Kilyanur panchayat elections. Around 12:30 a.m. on May 30, 2013, Krishnaveni and others gathered in front of Bhaskar’s home armed with deadly weapons. When Bhaskar tried to escape, he was hunted.On April 28, 2017, after the court concluded the trial, the 23 defendants were acquitted. Bhaskar’s wife Amuda subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court.
