Overview

• Tirupathur District and Sessions Court convicted 36-year-old history-sheeter K. Hemaraj on July 14, sentencing him to rigorous life imprisonment and imposing an ₹85,000 fine.
• Hemaraj was found guilty of pushing the four-month-pregnant commuter off the Coimbatore-Tirupati Intercity Express near Katpadi on February 6 after she resisted his sexual assault attempt.
• The court stipulated that compensation must be deposited within one month, with the state responsible for all future medical treatment.
• All charges were substantiated through testimony from 22 witnesses, including the survivor, according to Public Prosecutor P. T. Saravanan.
• Hemaraj had been out on conditional bail for a 2024 murder case and faced prior Goondas Act charges after earlier train-push incidents, highlighting systemic gaps in monitoring repeat violent offenders.