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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Death in unnatural circumstances |
Sentence: |
7 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
2006 |
Year Convicted: |
2012 |
Year Cleared: |
2019 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
India |
County or Region of Crime: |
Tamil Nadu |
City of Crime: |
Chennai |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Sakthi, Muthuraj (his father), and Neela (his mother) were co-defendants wrongly convicted on July 12, 2012 of charges related to the death of Sakthi's wife Kalpana on September 2, 2006 in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu province, India. Kalpana married Sakthi at Vellore on February 2, 2006. They later moved to her matrimonial house in Chennai. Kalpana quarreled with Sakthi and her in-laws on September 1, 2006 when they demanded Rs 50,000 for buying household articles for establishing a separate family.(Rs50,000 was US$1,078 at the exchange rate of Rs46.39 to US$1 in September 2006.) Sakthi was found dead the next day, and her death was initially registered as a suicide by the police. Prosecutors later determined her death was a homicide and charges were filed against Sakthi and his parents on the basis the demand from Kalpana for Rs 50,000 was actually a demand for an illegal dowry. After a bench trial Sakthi was convicted of cruelty under Criminal Code Sec 498-A and sentenced to 3 years in prison, and (cruelty) and his father Muthuraj and mother Neela were both convicted of death in unnatural circumstances under Criminal Code Sec 304-B and sentenced to seven years in prison. The three appealed on the basis it was a built-up case and the evidence of the witnesses was contradictory, not cogent and unreliable. On December 1, 2019 the Madras High Court set-aside the convictions of Sakthi, Muthuraj, and Neela and ordered their acquittal on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In his ruling, Justice P N Prakash noted the evidence in record showed Kalpana was basically a sensitive person and the quarrel was working on her mind and prompted her to commit suicide. He also noted that they were only charged with murder because Kalpana's parents went to the Human Rights Commission and advocated for them being charged, when the evidence supported the initial finding of suicide, and the post-mortem report does not list that Kalpana had any defensive injuries as alleged by her parents. Justice Prakash further ruled that the demand for the money to buy household articles to be shared by the matrimonial couple was not a dowry demand." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 1, 2019 the Madras High Court set-aside the convictions of Sakthi, Muthuraj, and Neela and ordered their acquittal on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Indian |
Information Source 1: |
"Demanding money to set up house not dowry?: Demand of money for buying articles for establishing a separate family not dowry: HC, By Express News Service, The New Indian Express, December 13, 2019" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2019/dec/13/demanding-money-to-set-up-house-not-dowry-2075378.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org