Fri Aug 01 04:47:07 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:
**Chennai Woman and Lover Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Drugging Children to Death**
**CHENNAI, August 1, 2025** – V. Abirami, of Kundrathur near Chennai, and her lover, Sundaram alias R. Meenakshisundaram, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Kancheepuram Principal District and Sessions Court for the murder of Abirami’s two young children. The court found the pair guilty of drugging six-year-old V. Ajay and four-year-old V. Karnika to death in August 2018.
The prosecution successfully argued that Abirami, driven by her affair with Sundaram, poisoned her children’s milk with drugs obtained using a false prescription. While no direct eyewitnesses were present, the court was convinced by a strong chain of circumstantial evidence, including testimony from a pharmacist, a jeweler, a two-wheeler stand employee, and a cook at a Nagercoil women’s hostel where Abirami sought refuge after the crime.
Evidence presented included the discovery of Lorazepam and Alprazolam in the children’s post-mortem toxicology reports. Abirami’s husband, Vijay, also testified that she had offered him the same poisoned milk, which he refused due to its bitter taste.
While acknowledging the heinous nature of the crime, the court opted against the death penalty, citing Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy against retributive justice. However, the judge also deemed a standard life sentence with potential for remission insufficient, ordering the convicts to remain incarcerated for the remainder of their lives. The judge said, the two convicts certainly do not deserve any mercy. “Yet, we should not hang them to death,” the judge said, and quoted Mahatma Gandhi to have said, man has no right to take away the life given by God.
Abirami had initially denied the charges, claiming a lack of direct evidence. However, the court highlighted the consistent testimony of independent witnesses and the recovery of unused tablets from her residence.
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