TN: Charge against man for sexual assault & murder of daughter dismissed

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed the life sentence awarded to one Marimuthu of Rameshwaram who was initially suspected to have raped and murdered his own daughter.

In happier times, Marimuthu was married to one Dhanush Banu and the couple had a son and a daughter. It was around 2013 when ripples started appearing in their relationship post which Banu started living separately with the children being lodged at a relative's house of hers.

On April 23, 2013, the couple's nine-year-old daughter was washed ashore and police investigation indicated sexual abuse and murder. Nearly three years later, police zeroed in on Marimuthu and a lower court awarded him life sentence on November 3, 2017.
 

When the case came to the bench today, the court dismissed the life sentence and said that Marimuthu being held for the rape and murder of his daughter based on hearsay information that he was seen with the victim on the shores can't be accepted.