<p>Nearly seven years after his murder sent ripples across Tamil Nadu, a special court in Madurai on Saturday convicted 10 accused, including the leader of a caste outfit, for murdering V Gokulraj, 21-year-old Dalit engineering student, on the suspicion that he was in a relationship with a girl from the dominant Gounder community.</p>.<p>The role of prime accused Yuvaraj, founder of the Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai, and nine others in the murder has been conclusively proved by the prosecution, additional district judge T Sampathkumar said, while convicting 10 accused and acquitting five others.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj, who gave interviews to television channels from his “hideout” when he was on the run to escape police action, almost justified the murder and received a rousing reception when he came to surrender.</p>.<p>Besides Yuvaraj, S Kumar, P Giridhar, D Selvaraj, M Prabhu, P Arun, S Ragu, R Sathiskumar, D Ranjith, and S Chandrasekaran have also been convicted.</p>.<p>Judge Sampathkumar will pronounce the quantum of sentence to the accused on March 8. The sensational case had its own twists and turns after which the investigation was transferred from the local police to CB-CID and it was transferred from Namakkal to Madurai after an intervention by the Madras High Court.</p>.<p>The case was also in the news when deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vishnupriya, who was investigating the case, died by suicide allegedly due to pressure exerted on her with regard to Gokulraj’s murder. However, CBI, which probed her death, said there was no abetment angle to the DSP’s suicide.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj and his men are accused of killing Gokulraj, a Dalit after they saw him with a girl from the Gounder community to which they also belong. The student was abducted from the Arthanareeswar Temple in Thiruchengode in Namakkal on June 23, 2015, after he was seen with the girl.</p>.<p>A day later, his beheaded body was found near a railway track in Pallipalayam in the district. The girl who was seen with him released a video in which she said they were just “friends” and were “not in a relationship” and that she saw members of the outfit headed by Yuvaraj bundled Gokulraj into a car.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj was in hiding for almost 100 days but he continued to release audio tapes and give interviews to Tamil television channels from his “hideout.” After the trial began, 21 of the 72 witnesses in the case turned and the case was transferred to Madurai from Namakkal. The Madurai court began its hearing in 2019.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>Nearly seven years after his murder sent ripples across Tamil Nadu, a special court in Madurai on Saturday convicted 10 accused, including the leader of a caste outfit, for murdering V Gokulraj, 21-year-old Dalit engineering student, on the suspicion that he was in a relationship with a girl from the dominant Gounder community.</p>.<p>The role of prime accused Yuvaraj, founder of the Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai, and nine others in the murder has been conclusively proved by the prosecution, additional district judge T Sampathkumar said, while convicting 10 accused and acquitting five others.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj, who gave interviews to television channels from his “hideout” when he was on the run to escape police action, almost justified the murder and received a rousing reception when he came to surrender.</p>.<p>Besides Yuvaraj, S Kumar, P Giridhar, D Selvaraj, M Prabhu, P Arun, S Ragu, R Sathiskumar, D Ranjith, and S Chandrasekaran have also been convicted.</p>.<p>Judge Sampathkumar will pronounce the quantum of sentence to the accused on March 8. The sensational case had its own twists and turns after which the investigation was transferred from the local police to CB-CID and it was transferred from Namakkal to Madurai after an intervention by the Madras High Court.</p>.<p>The case was also in the news when deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vishnupriya, who was investigating the case, died by suicide allegedly due to pressure exerted on her with regard to Gokulraj’s murder. However, CBI, which probed her death, said there was no abetment angle to the DSP’s suicide.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj and his men are accused of killing Gokulraj, a Dalit after they saw him with a girl from the Gounder community to which they also belong. The student was abducted from the Arthanareeswar Temple in Thiruchengode in Namakkal on June 23, 2015, after he was seen with the girl.</p>.<p>A day later, his beheaded body was found near a railway track in Pallipalayam in the district. The girl who was seen with him released a video in which she said they were just “friends” and were “not in a relationship” and that she saw members of the outfit headed by Yuvaraj bundled Gokulraj into a car.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj was in hiding for almost 100 days but he continued to release audio tapes and give interviews to Tamil television channels from his “hideout.” After the trial began, 21 of the 72 witnesses in the case turned and the case was transferred to Madurai from Namakkal. The Madurai court began its hearing in 2019.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
