In Brief
Perumal Raja was convicted of murdering Rajini @ Rajinikanth in November 2007. The body remained missing until April 2008, when Perumal made a disclosure statement in police custody (relating to another case) revealing the location of the body in a sump tank. Police recovered the decomposed body parts, which were identified through superimposition testing. Perumal also led police to recovered motorcycles and personal belongings. The trial and High Court convicted him; the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that circumstantial evidence—the disclosure statement, body recovery, and motive (property disputes)—satisfied the legal test. The Court rejected Perumal's acquittal in a separate murder case as irrelevant, and found the co-accused's acquittal proper due to insufficient evidence against them.
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