The New Indian Express ·
Man sent to gallows for raping five set free by Madurai Bench of the Madras HC
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras HC on Tuesday acquitted a 49-year-old man who was sentenced to death by a trial court in Sivaganga in April this year on charges of sexually assaulting five minor girls in Sivaganga district in 2024.
Allowing an appeal filed by the man challenging the conviction and death sentence, which had been referred to the high court for approval, a bench of Justices N Anand Venkatesh and KK Ramakrishnan said the man did not receive a fair trial.
Due to denial of effective legal assistance, inadequacy of records regarding cross-examination, procedural irregularities, among others, the trial proceedings have been reduced to a mockery of the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial and have resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice, they opined.
