According to the prosecution, Gajendran, staying at a refugee camp at Eanchampalli, 25 km from here, waylaid the 20-year-old student Chellapandy and beat him to death with an iron rod on July 3, 2013.
Gajendran had fallen in love with a girl in the camp but she rebuffed his advances as she was in love with the student, her cousin, it said.
Delivering the verdict yesterday, Principal District Judge G P Elango sentenced Gajendran to life term for the murder and also three years rigorous imprisonment for hiding evidence by throwing the body into a well. He ordered that both the sentences would run concurrently.