A special Court in Chennai has sentenced a former DMK lawmaker to spend 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting and murdering a minor girl in 2012.

Rajkumar, a former DMK MLA from Perambalur Assembly constituency, and his accomplice Jayashankar, a prominent party functionary, have been awarded 10 years of incarceration for the heinous crime of raping and murdering a minor. Sathya, the girl in question, was 15 years of age when he was working as a house-maid at the residence of Rajkumar when she suddenly disappeared in 2012.

Hailing from Idukki District of neighbouring Kerala, Sathya resurfaced soon and died within a few days. The MLA’s family held that the girl had fallen ill and died without recovering. However, Sathya’s father Chandran had lodged a complaint with the Perambalur Police stating that he had suspected that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the MLA and then murdered.

Police filed charge-sheets based on Chandran’s complaints and arrested Rajkumar and his accomplice Jayashankar. After six years of trial, Rajkumar and Jyashankar have now been awarded 10 years of imprisonment. Rajkumar was the DMK MLA from Perambalur from 2006-2011.