Tamil Nadu: Madras HC Upholds Life Sentence Of Caste Outfit Leader Yuvaraj For Beheading Dalit Youth Gokulraj In 2015

The Madras High Court today (2 June) upheld the life sentence given to S Yuvaraj, the leader of Theeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai and his associates for the beheading of a Dalit youth Gokulraj in 2015.

Yuvaraj was the leader of a caste outfit of the Gounders, who are a politically dominant community in western Tamil Nadu.

According to the investigation, Yuvaraj had spotted Gokulraj with a girl from the Gounder community at the Ardhaneswarar Temple in Tiruchengode and suspected them to be in love with each other.

After being taken away from the temple, Gokulraj was forced to record a video message and write a suicide note saying that he had decided to die due to failure in love.

He was then beheaded and his body was laid in between railway tracks to make it seem like a suicide committed by jumping before a running train.

Vishnupriya, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who was investigating the case allegedly committed suicide due to extreme pressure.

The Court rejected the plea of Gokulraj’s mother to increase the punishment to a death sentence and set aside the acquittal of five of the accused by the trial court. It reduced the sentence of two of the convicts. The police had filed a chargesheet against 15 people.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Caste Realities Unlikely To Change Any Time Soon