MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has granted time to Dharma Muneeswaran, who was sentenced to death for the sexual assault and murder of a Class 12 student in Vilathikulam of Thoothukudi district, to file an appeal against the conviction and sentence. The court adjourned the matter to June 12.
The order was passed by Justices Anand Venkatesh and Ramakrishnan when the case came up for hearing on Thursday. The Bench said the convict should be allowed to challenge the sentence before further proceedings in the case.
The Thoothukudi Pocso Court awarded Dharma Muneswaran a death sentence on May 25 after finding him guilty of raping and murdering a Class 12 student from Vedanatham near Kulathur in Vilathikulam.
According to the prosecution, the student went missing on March 10 after stepping out of her house, and her body was recovered from a nearby bush the next day. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
Based on the initial findings, a special police team launched an investigation and arrested Dharma Muneeswaran of Sayalkudi in Ramanathapuram district. The investigation also revealed that he had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment in another rape and murder case involving an elderly woman and was out on bail at the time of the offence.
The trial was conducted before the Thoothukudi Pocso Court, where 71 witnesses were examined. After the conviction, Vilathikulam police submitted the case records before the Madurai Bench for confirmation of the death sentence, as required under law.