Woman cop's murder: HC directs lower court to complete trial

The Madras High Court today directed a lower court to complete the trial within three months and dispose of a case of rape and murder of a woman constable pending for over six years.
Justice M S Ramesh gave the direction while allowing a petition from P Mariammal, the mother of the deceased, Jayamani.
The petitioner had submitted that on August 23, 2009, her daughter, while returning home after duty, was offered a lift by the accused, Shankar alias Jaishankar at Adhiyur.
The accused took the woman, against her will, to a burial ground and when she attempted to escape, he attacked her with a weapon, the petitioner had submitted.

After she fainted, the accused raped and murdered her, the petition had alleged, adding that he also took a gold chain and other valuables of the victim.
Subsequently, the case was transferred from the district court in Coimbatore to the District Sessions and Mahila Court in Tiruppur in 2012.

However, till date, the accused was not produced in court regularly for trial and the case was still pending, the petitioner had submitted.
P Chandrasekaran, the petitioner's counsel, contended that more than eight years had passed since the heinous crime.
He also alleged that the police had not cooperated during the trial by producing the accused in the sessions court regularly.

It was painful to note that the police had shown such a lethargic attitude in conducting the trial of one of their colleagues, who was brutally raped and murdered for gain while she was on duty, the counsel added.