COIMBATORE: A special court for Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (POA) Act cases here on Monday sentenced a man to double life imprisonment and a woman to a life term for brutally torturing and murdering her six-year-old son who they believed interfered with their illicit relationship.According to the prosecution, A Divya, 32, separated from her husband, Arun, following disputes over her phone acquaintances. She moved to Saibaba Colony here with her six-year-old son, Abhishek, and a three-year-old daughter. While working at a local manufacturing unit, she developed an illicit relationship with A Rajadurai, 35, an autorickshaw driver from Theni.Rajadurai became a frequent visitor to Divya’s house. Viewing the young children as a barrier to their private meetings, the couple subjected both to horrific physical abuse. During a brief visit by his father, a weeping Abhishek begged to be rescued.On April 19, 2020, Rajadurai and Divya brutally assaulted the young boy with a stick near a local shop. Though onlookers intervened and reprimanded them, the severe beating caused Abhishek to collapse into unconsciousness. The couple called a 108 ambulance, falsely claiming the child had suffered an accidental fall. However, the boy succumbed to his severe injuries while being taken to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. Realising that the boy died, the couple abandoned the body and fled.Following an intensive investigation by the Saibaba Colony police, they were tracked down, arrested and tried, culminating in Monday’s life sentences.Judge K Vivekanandham stated that the punishment would not run concurrently. Special public prosecutor V Balasubramani represented the prosecution.
