The district and sessions court here on Friday convicted a couple and awarded life term for murdering a college girl and burning her body four years ago.
Vasanthi, 24, daughter of Subramanian, of Ashok Nagar in Karumandapam, Tiruchy, was studying B.Com second year at Chettinad arts college in 2008. She and her classmate Nithya, hailing from Thayanur village, fell in love with Venkatesan, studying MBA first year, in the same college and hailing from Singaravelar nagar.
As a result of the affair, Nithya got pregnant. Vasanthi and Venkatesan, who decided to get rid of Nithya and get married, hatched a plan. On Vasanthi’s invitation, Nithya visited Vasanthi’s house on December 26, 2008.
Vasanthi offered Nithya a cup of tea mixed with sedatives. When Nithya swooned, Vasanthi and Venkatesan took her to the bathroom and set fire after dressing her in Vasanthi’s clothes to make it appear that Vasanthi had committed suicide. After killing Nithya, Vasanthi and Venkatesan eloped and got married.
Vasanthi’s parents, who were out of town, found the charred body at home. They assumed that it was their daughter who was dead.
Based on a complaint from Subramanian, cantonment police registered a case and closed the file stating that Vasanthi committed self-immolation.
When their marriage was registered, Nithya’s parents lodged a complaint at a police station that their daughter was missing. Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that Nithya was in love with Venkatesan who was also found missing.
Nithya and Venkatesan then returned home. After being grilled by the police, Vasanthi and Venkatesan spilled the beans and were arrested.
The trial was conducted at the principal district and sessions court in Tiruchy. Sessions judge Velmurugan found Vasanthi and Venkatesan guilty of the charges. The judge sentenced the couple to life imprisonment. He also slapped a fine of Rs2,000 each and ordered them to undergo six months’ imprisonment in default.