Theni (TN): A court here today sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a 20-year-old college student about seven years ago.  

District and Sessions Court Judge Senthil Kumaresan also sentenced Divakar (27) to life imprisonment for murdering the woman student's lover when the couple was near the Suruli falls in the district in May 2011.  

Divakar was convicted of rape charges separately and sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. The sentences will run concurrently. According to the prosecution, Divakar, a coconut plucker, had assaulted the 21-year-old man and forced the two to part with their belongings.  

When the deceased tried to protect the woman, Divakar hacked him to death. Later, he inflicted cut injuries on the woman's leg, raped and murdered her, the prosecution had said.  

Earlier, another couple, also college students, who had come with the duo, was threatened by Divakar, but they managed to escape. On a complaint from the parents of the deceased, the police had launched a hunt and found their bodies.  

Divakar was arrested subsequently. The convict had also assaulted a police sub-inspector, who had gone to his house to serve the summons and a separate case was pending against him in this regard, the prosecution had said. PTI