A day after the Additional Sessions Court in Paramakudi awarded life imprisonment to 10 accused in a murder case, the additional district court here convicted four members of a family – fathers and sons in a murder case and awarded them life imprisonment.
Holding that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, Additional District Judge D. Lingeswaran held the accused Ashraf Ali, his son Mohamed Saleem. Afthagir and his son Sahabudhin guilty under sections 302, 294 (b) read with 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The judge also imposed fine of ₹11,000 on each accused and directed that they should undergo six more months of imprisonment if they failed to pay the fine amount. The sentences would go concurrently, the judge said.
The prosecution case was that the accused who hailed from Erwadi had assaulted and stabbed to death Altaf Hussain, a cook also from Erwadi after a wordy duel over payment towards rent for cooking vessels given by the accused and redemption of jewels.
The deceased (28) who is survived by his wife and two children visited the house of Ashraf Ali on November 13, 2014 to redeem the jewels, he had pledged in lieu of the rent after paying the dues when the two came to blows after a wordy duel.
When Ali fell down, his son came to his rescue and when the deceased attacked him, Ali’s brother Afthagir and his son who were nearby joined and they stabbed Hussain to death, the prosecution said.
The accused were present in the court when the judge pronounced the order, after which, they were taken to Madurai central prison, Public Prosecutor C.K. Venkatesan said.
