Auto Shankar
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| Auto Shankar | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 1954  Chennai |
| Died | April 27, 1995 Salem, Tamil Nadu |
| Penalty | Death by hanging |
| Occupation | Auto rickshaw driver |
Auto Shankar (21 January 1954 - 27 April 1995) is the nickname of an Indian serial killer.
Contents |
[edit] Murders
Shankar and his gang were found guilty of six murders, committed over a period of two years in 1988-1989.[1] They were tried for the murders of Lalitha, Sudalai, Sampath, Mohan, Govindaraj and Ravi.[1] The bodies of the victims were either burnt or buried inside residential houses.[1]
[edit] Trial
Shankar's trial was completed by the Chengalpattu sessions court;[1] He was sentenced to death along with two of his associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on May 31, 1991.[1]
During his trial Auto Shankar blamed films for "making a devil of him", but a month before his execution, he revealed to reporters a more sinister force. According to his account, he had kidnapped the girls for powerful state politicians, subsequently disposing of them after his patrons had raped them.[citation needed] Auto Shankar was hanged in Salem Central Prison.[1]
[edit] Associates
In 2002, Shankar's five accomplices were sentenced to six months of Rigorous Imprisonment after having been found guilty by a Magistrate.[2] The accomplices were Shankar's brother, Mohan, Selva alias Selvaraj and the jail warders Kannan, Balan and Rahim Khan.[2] They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension.[2]
Subsequently, Shankar's younger brother, Auto Mohan, was also found guilty of the six murders and was awarded three life sentences.[1] Mohan had earlier escaped from the Chennai Central Prison in August 1990 and was re-arrested in Pune on June 25, 1992.[1]
[edit] Responses
K. Vijay Kumar, the Tamil Nadu Additional Director-General of Police, claimed that cinema was solely responsible for making Shankar a criminal.[3] He mentioned this during a seminar on "Crime and Media" in Kerala.
The trial has become widely known across the nation since the Supreme Court invoked the American free speech doctrine and the case became oft-quoted in relation to cases of expose.[4][5][6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h The Hindu : Auto Shankar's brother gets life imprisonment
- ^ a b c The Hindu : RI for jail warders in 'Auto' Shankar case
- ^ The Hindu : Media, police should not harm society's interests
- ^ The Hindu : Whistles, stings and slapps
- ^ The Hindu : Tehelka: what next?
- ^ The Hindu : The Tehelka Commission
