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Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal sentenced to life for murder, SC upholds conviction

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Eighteen years after the abduction and murder of a man in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of P Rajagopal, the founder of the Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels.  The apex court’s order comes 10 years after the Madras High Court’s sentence.

The case dates back to 2001 when P Rajagopal hired eight henchmen to abduct and murder Prince Santhakumar. This as Santhakumar, a math teacher had married a woman named Jeevajyothi, who was the daughter of Rajagopal’s employee. According to reports, Rajagopal had pursued Jeevajyothi, who was then 20, to become his third wife. This was reportedly based on an astrologer’s advice.

Rajagopal, also known as Annachi, had spoken to the women’s father and his employee Ramasamy about his intention to marry her. But the young woman was unaware of it. Later, she eloped with Santhakumar. It was then Rajagopal plotted the murder of the man she chose.

In October 2001, Santhakumar was abducted and murdered by men hired by Rajagopal, and his body was found in the hill station of Kodaikanal. Three years later, in 2004, the hotelier was found guilty by a sessions court and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

While the Saravana Bhavan founder went on to challenge his conviction, the prosecution sought an enhancement of his punishment. The Madras High Court, in 2009, set aside the sessions court’s punishment, pointing out that a conviction under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC justified life imprisonment. The judgment by Justice Banumathi and Justice PK Misra on 19 March, 2009 had noted that the prosecution had proved that ‘Rajagopal either because he was advised by an astrologer that his business and prosperity would increase if he takes Jeevajyothi as his third wife or maybe he was besotted with Jeevajyothi, notwithstanding that she had already married Santhakumar’.

Source: The News Minute