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Madras HC serves notices to 13 convicts in 1997 Melavalavu caste massacre case

The Madras High Court on Monday issued notices to the 13 convicts in the 1997 Melavalavu caste massacre in a case that challenged their release from prison. The convicts, all of them from dominant communities, were jailed for murdering six Dalit men in 1997 who had gotten elected in local body polls, in Melavalavu, Madurai district. 

According to reports, the notices were issued in a petition filed by P Rathinam, who had challenged the state government’s decision to release all 13 convicts in the case under good conduct rules. In his petition, Rathinam said that the premature release of the convicts in the case was decided without considering the disturbance to public order that will be caused in Melavalavu and surrounding areas due to the release of the convicts. 

He also stated that the decision to release them before their punishment term ends was taken on the recommendation of two committees and that he did not have the documents which helped consider their early release. In the previous hearing in the case, the high court had impleaded the 13 convicts and had directed the government of Tamil Nadu to file reports on the reasons that were considered for the early release of the convicts.

The case pertains to the brutal murder of six Dalit men by men from the dominant communities on June 30, 1997, because the Dalit men were elected to be panchayat leaders in the local body polls. Initially, 44 people were accused in the case and later it was narrowed down to 17 men. They were sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court and the order was upheld by the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court in 2009. 

One of the convicts died during the trial and three others were granted remission in 2008 during Anna Centenary celebrations by the then DMK government and released. The family members of the victims had also sent a petition to the Tamil Nadu government against the release of the convicts. 

Source: The News Minute