Supreme Court dismisses convicts’ appeals in Kannagi-Murugesan honour killings case

View of the Supreme Court of India, in New Delhi. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday (April 28, 2025) dismissed appeals filed by convicts in Kannagi-Murugesan honour killings case from Tamil Nadu, and went on to confirm the Madras High Court judgment of 2022 in the case.

The High Court had commuted the death penalty of one of the convicts to life imprisonment and acquitted two others of all charges. The conviction and life sentence of nine convicts were upheld.

A Bench headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia awarded ₹5 lakh compensation to the victims’ family, represented by advocate Rahul Shyam Bhandari.

Kannagi, belonging to the Vanniyar community (the Most Backward Class), had fallen in love with Murugesan of a Scheduled Caste when they were studying at Annamalai University in Chidambaram. Hailing from Puthukkooraippettai village in Cuddalore district, they got married secretly and registered the marriage in Cuddalore on May 5, 2003. Kannagi’s family was furious on learning about the marriage.

According to the prosecution, poison was forced into the throats of the couple at the village cremation ground on July 8, 2003, and their bodies were burnt to make it appear that it was a case of suicide. After a botched investigation by the local police, the probe was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, at the instance of Murugesan’s father. A final report was filed in 2009.

A special court in Cuddalore convicted 13 accused and awarded capital punishment to the victim woman’s brother. The rest were sentenced to life imprisonment.