The Additional District Court I, Mavelikara, on Tuesday sentenced six people to life in prison for the murder of DYFI activist Jishnu, 21, of Vishnu Bhavan, Karuvatta North.
Those awarded life imprisonment were Arun, 26, of Moonnumanakkal; Arun Chand, 33, of Alakkattusseril; Sanu, 29, of Paruthikkattu Valuparambil; Pradeep, 27, of Kavumtharayil; Akhil Ashok, 32, of Puthuvilayil; and Rahul, 28, of Rakhi Bhavan. The first five hail from Karuvatta North, while Rahul is a native of Haskapuram in Karuvatta.
The court also sentenced Manu, 29, of Anjali, Karuvatta North to seven-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) for attempting to murder a friend of the victim.
Accused absconding
Sudhish, 31, of Aalathara Vadakathil, of Karuvatta North, the prime accused in the murder case, is absconding.
The prosecution case was that Jishnu was murdered by a gang on February 10, 2017.
According to the prosecution, Jishnu and his elder brother Vishnu, along with their friend Suraj, were returning home on motorcycles after attending a festival at the Sree Subrahmanya Swamy temple, Haripad, when the gang attacked them at the Oottuparambha level crossing. Although Jishnu escaped to a nearby house, they chased and hacked him with sword, sticks and arms and inflicted serious injures. He died on the way to hospital. The accused also attacked and tried to kill Suraj. He sustained serious injuries.
Compensation
Additional District Court I judge Jobin Sebastian sentenced the six to life term and a compensation of ₹ 1 lakh each, which will be given to the mother of the victim.
The court ordered Manu to pay a fine of ₹50,000. The court had found them guilty of the crime on Monday. The court acquitted five people in the Jishnu murder case and four persons in connection with the attempted murder of Suraj.
The court found the six accused guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 449 (house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Manu was found guilty under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC. The sentences will run concurrently. Public Prosecutor P. Santhosh represented the prosecution side.