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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
'''Pon Navarasu''', a student of [[Rajah Muthiah Medical College]], [[Annamalai University]] in [[Chidambaram]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]] was murdered on 6 November 1996. This murder, which occurred during a [[Ragging in India|ragging]] incident, led to the passing of the first anti-ragging legislation in India.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|title=The 1996 TN case that started it all|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-11-12/india/28220374_1_hostel-room-first-year-mbbs-student-body-parts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105214539/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-11-12/india/28220374_1_hostel-room-first-year-mbbs-student-body-parts|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2012|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=12 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=tehelka>{{cite news|title=‘A FRESHER HAS TO BE STRETCHED LIKE A RUBBER-BAND TILL HE BREAKS|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=hub111806A_fresher.asp|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[Tehelka]]|date=18 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924112804/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=hub111806A_fresher.asp|archive-date=24 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Details==
Pon Navarasu was a first year student at the [[Rajah Muthiah Medical College]], Annamalai University. He was murdered on 6 November 1996. His body was dismembered and the body parts were scattered in different parts of Tamil Nadu. They were recovered over the next few days. His father Professor P. K. Ponnusamy, former vice-chancellor of the [[Madras University]], filed a police complaint on 10 November. The next day John David, a senior student in the same college surrendered to judicial custody and confessed to the murder after a week-long interrogation. According to his confession, the murder took place while he was [[ragging]] Navarasu. The police said that David had assaulted Navarasu during a ragging session in his hostel room as the latter refused to strip and lick footwear.<ref name=":0" /> David's college mates testified that he had a reputation for being a bully and humiliating freshers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/rag-student-severed-victims-head/106552.article | title=
Rag student severed victim's head | publisher=Times Higher Education / The World University Rankings | date=27 March 1998 | accessdate=11 July 2020 }}</ref> Delivering the much-awaited judgement in a packed court hall, a Cuddalore judge S.R. Singaravelu said the motive of the murder was probably, 'that while other juniors had obliged the accused, the disinclination of Navarasu, who happened to be the son of a vice-chancellor, might have irritated the accused and made him desperate and led to an ego clash.'<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070222/40567.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052819/http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070222/40567.htm |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The gruesome nature of the murder caused a public outcry and the [[Government of Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu government]] passed an anti-ragging ordinance criminalising ragging. Later this ordinance was formalised as the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997|url=http://www.lawsofindia.org/statelaw/5630/TheTamilNaduProhibitionofRaggingAct1997.html|work=Govt of TamilNadu|publisher=Laws of India}}</ref><ref name=toi1>{{cite news|title=SC upholds two life terms for Navarasu killer|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-21/chennai/29458517_1_life-term-acquitting-judgment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105214543/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-21/chennai/29458517_1_life-term-acquitting-judgment|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2012|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=21 April 2011}}</ref><ref name=dc1>{{cite news|title=John David surrenders, at last|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/john-david-surrenders-last-685|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|date=24 April 2011}}</ref><ref name=ie1>{{cite news|title=Life sentence for ragging murder|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19980312/07150374.html|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[Indian Express]]|date=12 March 1998|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430142758/http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19980312/07150374.html|archivedate=30 April 2011}}</ref> Thus Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to ban ragging in educational institutions and criminalise the act.<ref name=tehelka/><ref name=ie1/><ref>{{cite web|title=Know the laws of the land|url=http://noragging.com/index.php/Laws.html|work=Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE)|access-date=2011-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714192635/http://noragging.com/index.php/Laws.html|archive-date=2011-07-14|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ragging and University Administration|url=http://legalsutra.org/1688/ragging-and-university-administration/|work=Legalsutra.com|accessdate=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121065317/http://legalsutra.org/1688/ragging-and-university-administration/|archive-date=21 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

John David was convicted of Navarasu's murder and was given a double life sentence (to be served consecutively) by the [[Cuddalore district]] sessions court on 11 March 1998. The [[Madras High Court]] overturned the verdict on 5 October 2001 and acquitted him. The state of Tamil Nadu appealed to the Indian [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme court]]. On 20 April 2011, the supreme court overturned the high court acquittal and confirmed the lower court's conviction. It also ordered the double life sentences to be served concurrently.<ref name=toi1/><ref name=ie1/> John David, who had been released in 2001, turned himself in again a few days later and is currently serving his sentence.<ref name=dc1/><ref>{{cite news|title=David freed from prison|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/10/09/stories/0409223w.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528103849/http://www.hindu.com/2001/10/09/stories/0409223w.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 May 2007|accessdate=18 July 2011|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=9 October 2001}}</ref>

Navarasu's parents have established a non-profit anti-ragging organisation in his memory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Objectives - Pon Naavarasu trust|url=http://www.ponnaavarasutrust.org/objectives.htm|work=ponnaavarasutrust.org|accessdate=18 July 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarasu, Pon}}
[[Category:Education in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Crime in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Murdered students]]
[[Category:Students in India]]
[[Category:Ragging]]
[[Category:Murder in India]]
[[Category:1996 crimes in India]]
[[Category:1990s murders in India]]
[[Category:1996 murders in Asia]]

Murder of Pon Navarasu - Revision history

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