The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has set aside the death sentences awarded to Chandran (45) in a POCSO case linked to alleged sexual assault of five minor girls near Singampunari.
Chandran, a firewood cutter from Maruthipatti in Sivaganga district, was booked by the Tiruppathur All Women Police Station. The complaint alleged that on February 4, 2024, he lured one girl by offering to play video games on a mobile phone, and later allegedly took four other girls on the pretext of buying them snacks and assaulted them.
In April 2026, the Sivaganga POCSO Special Court convicted him and imposed multiple punishments, including five death sentences under different provisions and life imprisonment.
Hearing Chandran’s appeal, a division bench of Justices N. Anand Venkatesh and K.K. Ramakrishnan held that the police had not investigated the case properly and noted contradictions in the statements of the five girls. The court also referred to prior personal enmity between the girls’ parents and the appellant, and concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the charges.
The High Court therefore quashed the trial court’s order and directed that Chandran be released immediately from the Madurai Central Prison.
