Supreme Court rejects ‘dosa king’ Rajagopal’s plea for relief

Obsession can be self-destructive. The Saravana Bhavan founder, P Rajagopal, was accused of the abduction and murder of Shantakumar, husband of Jeevajyothi, whom he wanted to marry in 2001. The Supreme Court has now rejected his plea for relief on medical grounds.

Justice NV Ramana on Tuesday rejected the extension of deadline and said he must surrender immediately. Rajagopal was out on bail granted to him in 2009 on health grounds and was directed by the court to surrender by July 7.

The top court had in March confirmed the punishment of life sentence on P Rajagopal for the murder of Santhakumar. Delivering its verdict, a three judge bench of justices N.V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Indira Banerjee had held that, ”Having regard to the entire material on record and the totality of the facts and circumstances, we find that the evidence on record fully proves the case of the prosecution.”

In 2001, P Rajagopala was accused of the abduction and murder of Shantakumar, husband of Jeevajyothi, whom he wanted to marry. The woman was already married and rejected his advances, but Rajagopal did not stop. He started giving threats, beatings, and exorcism directed towards the woman, her husband and her family. In 2001, after one failed attempt, the husband was murdered on Rajagopal’s orders.