The gruesome murder of a student that shocked Tamil Nadu in 1996

In the academic year 1995-1996, Navarasu, 19, son of PK Ponnusamy, retired Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, was studying first-year MBBS at Raja Muthiah Medical College of Annamalai University in Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram. At his home in Chennai, his father, returning from a trip abroad, waited for his son to arrive to celebrate Deepavali, which fell on November 10, 1996. When Navarasu did not return until November 9, Professor Ponnusamy inquired with friends in Chennai. Since his whereabouts were unknown, he called the university. He was told that his hostel room was locked. When the home was broken into, his belongings, along with a small box, were found scattered on the floor.

His father rushed to college and filed a complaint with the Annamalai Nagar police on November 10, 1996. The case was registered as Crime No. 509 of 1996. Three days before the case was registered, a torso, kept in a cardboard box, was recovered on the morning of November 7 by Pattinapakkam police from PTC bus depot in Mandaveli, Chennai. They were informed by the conductor of a bus plying on route number 21G (Tambaram-Broadway).

Senior student goes into hiding

The Annamalai Nagar police received information from students about John David, a senior, who was absconding from the college since November 12. Two days later, he surrendered before the judicial magistrate of Mannargudi. At 1:30 a.m. on November 19, John David made a confessional statement that he had thrown Navarasu’s severed head into the boat channel on the university campus. The head was subsequently recovered. The Annamalai Nagar police received the details related to the torso recovered from Chennai, suspecting that it could be that of Navarasu.

On November 22, a message was received from the Villupuram control room that three human bones had been recovered from the banks of Koonimedu, a village part of Marakkanam block of Villuppuram district. After an autopsy, experts from the Department of Forensic Sciences concluded that the head, torso and bones belonged to one person and concluded that they in fact belonged to Navarasu. A DNA report also confirmed their findings.

The prosecution case was that the deceased and the accused were staying in different hostels. At 2:00 PM on November 6, 1996, John David took Navarasu and subjected him to severe beatings in a hostel room. When Navarasu resisted, John David caused him a head injury. As he lay unconscious on the ground, the suspect cut off his head and limbs with knives and removed his gold ring, watch and gold chain. He then put the head and gold ring and chain in a ziplock bag and threw it in the canal near the hostel. He burned the blood-stained clothes of the deceased on the open terrace of the hostel. John David took the torso along with the limbs in a suitcase on the train to Madras and threw the limbs into a river when the train crossed Cuddalore. He put the torso in a bus in Tambaram and disappeared.

A challenging exercise

In this case, establishing the identity of the victim was a challenge as the decapitated head recovered from the water body was decomposing. The court relied on the superposition process/test conducted by Jayaprakash, Deputy Director, Department of Forensic Sciences, Madras. Dr. Jayaprakash in his evidence said that the skull was that of Navarasu.

Skull photo superimposition is a process of overlaying the skull and facial images at appropriate magnifications to examine the match for acceptability. Dr. Jayaprakash had said that this process was first used in the famous Ruston case in England in 1935.

The Tamil Nadu Department of Forensic Sciences pioneered the superimposition of skull photographs in India. The examination of organs through organ morphology in the skull and face was developed by Dr. Jayaprakash and was applied in this case. Strikingly, the nasal bone bump observed in the skull in this case correlated with the bumpy nose seen in the photo of the victim’s face. On March 11, 1998, the Chief Sessions Judge, Cuddalore, SR Singaravelu sentenced John David to double imprisonment, holding that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence and motive on the part of the accused for committing such a crime.

Conviction set aside

However, a division bench of the Madras High Court acquitted him of all charges on October 5, 2001, setting aside the conviction and holding that there was no sufficient and satisfactory evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed the crime. John David walked free three days later.

In 2011, the Supreme Court reinstated the life sentence imposed on John David after an appeal by the state government. The court ruled that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence. In April 2011, he surrendered and was lodged in Cuddalore Central Jail. In the meantime, John David had worked at Velachery at a business process outsourcing company. His fluent knowledge of English helped him land the job. Later he was lodged in Puzhal Central Prison.

Last month, Dr. John David’s mother, Esther, petitioned for his early release on the grounds of good behavior and also sought to quash the government order rejecting a plea for early release. Following this, the Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to John David, quashed the government order and directed the government to reconsider the plea.

‘Violation of the Constitution’

S. Manoharan, counsel for Dr Esther, said: “John David applied for early release in 2018 but the application was rejected. The application, resubmitted early this year, was accepted by the government, but the governor rejected it. In this case, he was arrested and remanded in custody in 1996, at the age of 18 years and six months, and was classified as an adolescent offender. Now 27 years have passed since the incident. Therefore, he should be given more opportunities to reform and rehabilitate… Denying such an opportunity to my client’s son is unfair, unjust and a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. In addition, prison officials have also confirmed David’s good behavior.”