Life sentence in doctor murder case upheld 

Staff Reporter 
 
MADURAI, September 26, 2018 00:00 IST



The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court 

Accused hacked her after his wife died in her clinic

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence awarded by Thoothukudi Mahila Court to the key accused in the murder of a government doctor.

A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Sathish Kumar upheld the life sentence awarded to R. Mahesh, an auto driver, in 2015 for the murder of T. Sethulakshmi, chief doctor at ESI Hospital, Thoothukudi. However, the court acquitted the other accused in the case.

Death of wife of accused

It was alleged that Mahesh plotted the murder of Dr. Sethulakshmi after he held her responsible for the death of his 24-year-old wife.

His wife, who was 24 weeks pregnant, was admitted to the clinic of Dr. Sethulakshmi in 2012. But she died after developing complications while under treatment.

Mahesh, irked by the death of his wife, attacked the doctor at her clinic in Kamaraj Nagar, along with four of his friends and hacked her to death. The police had booked the accused under Sections 452 (trespass), 302 (murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. It was alleged that Mahesh, a history-sheeter, had several cases pending against him prior to the murder of the doctor.

The murder of the doctor had shocked the medical fraternity and widespread protests were held all over the State by various medical and doctor associations. They called for a stricter implementation of the Tamil Nadu Hospital Protection Act, 2008, after several such incidents were reported.