CHENNAI: More than eight years after a trial court acquitted 23 accused of killing a man over electoral contest in Villupuram in 2013, the Madras HC on Tuesday quashed the order, convicting 21 of them and sentencing them to life imprisonment.“After careful re-evaluation of the entire evidence on record, we find that the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and has also proven the existence of the accused as members of an unlawful assembly and the existence of a common purpose to cause death of the deceased,” a division bench of Justices P Velmurugan and M Guthiraman said.According to the prosecution, there was previous enmity between Bhaskar and Krishnaveni in connection with the Kilyanur panchayat elections. At around 12.30 am on May 30, 2013, Krishnaveni along with others gathered in front of Bhaskar’s house, armed with lethal weapons. When Basker tried to escape, he was chased and killed.At the conclusion of the trial, on April 28, 2017, the court acquitted all 23 defendants. Biskar’s wife, Amuda, then filed an appeal before the Supreme Committee.
