Chennai: A sessions court has sentenced to life two persons after finding them guilty of kidnapping an eight-year-old boy from near a school here in 2010. Holding that the crime had been proved beyond doubt by the cogent deposition of the victim, the XV additional sessions judge K. Dhanasekaran convicted and sentenced Suresh (22) of Vyasarpadi and William Stephen (22) of Madhavaram Milk Colony to life.

The child was a student of SBIOA school at Anna Nagar here. He used to go to school by van. On October 20, 2010, he was taken away from near his school in the evening. When his parents made enquiries in the neighbourhood, a textile shop owner informed them that he saw the child being pushed into a car and taken away by two men. Hours later, the boy’s mother received the first call demanding ransom. The abductors demanded Rs 5 lakh for the safe return of the child.

Police, who had been put on alert after the complaint, traced the call to Pallikonda in Vellore district. A team intercepted the abductors near Pallikonda check post and the boy was rescued without any injury within a day after the kidnap.During trial, though the defence team attempted to demolish the theory of kidnap, additional public prosecutor K. Simon relied on the cogent deposition (clear evidence) of the kidnap victim, who identified his abductors.