Supreme Court confirms Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal's conviction in 2001 murder case

The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal's conviction and life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of Prince Santhakumar in 2001 - one of the most high-profile crime cases in recent years. In 2009, the Madras High Court had awarded life imprisonment to Rajagopal and five others for the murder of Santhakumar, husband of a Saravana Bhavan employee's daughter, whom the disgraced hotelier wanted to marry.

The case pertains to the murder of Santhakumar in 2001. On the advice of an astrologer who predicted a lifetime of riches for him, Santakumar wanted to marry Jeevajothi - the daughter of one of his hotel employees. The hotel chain owner, who already had two wife at that time wanted to marry Jeevajothi, in her 20s at the time of incident.

However, he failed to convince her and she later married to Prince Santhakumar, a teacher by profession. After trying for years to unbindher from her husband, Rajagopal asked his henchmen to killer Santhakumar in October 2001.

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