Construction worker gets life term for murdering schoolgirl

Trichy: A fast-track mahila court in Karur district on Wednesday sentenced life imprisonment to a construction labourer for murdering a 14-year-old schoolgirl last year.

According to the prosecution, dejected by the rejection of his marriage proposal, the accused, Manojkumar, 25, hailing from Arangapalayam near Chinnatharapuram in Aravakuruchi taluk in Karur district had stabbed E Bharathipriya, a Class Nine student at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School at Chinnatharapuram to death on January 7, 2015 before inflicting an injury on himself using the same knife.

Manojkumar used to accompany the girl's father Eswaran, also a construction laborer hailing from Arangapalayam, to work. During his visits to Easwaran's house, the accused had met Bharathipriya and was infatuated with her. However, the minor girl turned down his proposal. Following this, Manojkumar had also conveyed his willingness to marry the girl to Eswaran, who also rejected it.

Since his appeals were turned down by both the girl and her parents, an angry Manojkumar stabbed Bharathipriya using a knife while she was on the way to school riding a bicycle after chasing her with his motorcycle. He also inflicted an injury on his stomach using the same knife.

Though local residents rushed both to them to the government hospital in Karur, Bharathipriya succumbed to her injuries on the way to hospital. Manojkumar was treated at the hospital. Chinnatharapuram police registered a case and arrested Manojkumar.

Fast-track mahila court Judge M Gunasekaran also slapped a fine of 1,000 on Manojkumar.

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