Lifer for setting wife ablaze in front of son

The convict S Pethan (50) of Viralipatti in Batlagundu Taluk, Dindigul District, was an assistant for a VAO. In 2001 he murdered his neighbour over a quarrel and was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Dindigul Court. The conviction went for an appeal and he was released in a couple of years.

“But his first wife Papputhai refused to live with him as he was a murderer,” the SPP said. But he married Jakkamma, who was living alone as she had had a rift with her husband Veeran. At the time of marriage, she was residing in Vettaikaranpudur near Anamalai in Pollachi Taluk, Coimbatore District. The couple had a son and was living in Vettaikaranpudur. Suspecting her, Pethan often used to pick a quarrel with her. 

On December 18, 2015, the couple had a long bitter quarrel from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Pethan and their 12-year-old son slept inside the house and Jakkamma slept in the veranda. “Around 3 am, he doused her with kerosene and set her ablaze. Hearing her cries for help, the boy raised an alarm and the neighbours put out the flame and rushed her to the Pollachi Government Hospital. The woman who suffered 85 per cent burns was referred to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital,” Amalanathan said. 

The next day (December 19) a magistrate recorded her dying declaration. Jakkamma succumbed to injuries early on December 20. Anamalai police registered a case against Pethan under section 302 (punishment for murder) and the case was tried at the bomb blast court in Coimbatore. On completion of the trial the I-Additional District Judge,  M. Christopher (in-charge of the bomb blast court) sentenced Pethan to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs. 5,000.