The Mavelikara Additional District and Sessions Court-II on Thursday sentenced to death Viswarajan, 22, of Oachira who was found guilty of the rape and murder of a 34-year-old widow and the mother of a teenaged girl.
Pronouncing the sentence, the Judge A.Badarudheen said the court was awarding death penalty as it was the ‘rarest of rare cases.' The Court also asked the accused, Viswarajan, alias ‘Karumadi' of Santhosh Bhavan in Vayanakam in Oachira to pay a penalty of Rs.1 lakh to the victim's daughter. If the convicted person failed to pay the penalty, he would have to undergo additional Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) of six months.
Special Public Prosecutor S. Remanan Pillai said Viswarajan had also been sentenced to six months Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (wrongful confinement) and five years RI under Section 376 read with 511 (attempt to rape). The sentences will, however, run concurrently.
Habitual offender
The judge observed that the accused was a habitual offender and was a threat to the community. Mr. Pillai said the accused had two charges of rape and assault against him in the Ochira police station pending trial and another case of abducting a minor girl and sexually exploiting her. The death sentence was based on ‘circumstantial evidence,' he said.
A large crowd of people were present when the verdict was pronounced at 11 a.m. The accused was brought out of the court nearly three hours later, at 2 p.m., and taken in a police vehicle to Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail at Poojapura. A heavy deployment of police under Kayamkulam Deputy Superintendent of Police S. Devamanohar, who also supervised the investigation, was present at the court.
The incident occurred at 7 p.m. on October 24, 2011 when the victim was returning home. The accused who was hiding in the dark grabbed the victim and beat her unconscious before sexually assaulting her. He later pushed her into a paddy field. The police and local people rushed her to a hospital. However, she died while being shifted to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital. The investigation was led by Kayamkulam Circle Inspector A.N.Shanihan, who submitted the report to the court.
Keywords: Viswarajan, death sentence
you know what happens to these death sentences,the convicts prefer an appeal to high court,they reduce the sentence to life .if confirmed they will go to supreme court. if confirmed there is mercy petitions to governor and president and confirmed there also he can be executed . but there lies the real problem, passing through all these proceedings may take years (15-20 years is not a rarity) . then there will be so called human right activists who think ,human rights are only to murderers and gang bangers will start to protest his execution because he served years in prison, rest assured the govt releases them without thinking about the fact that the man once committed a heinous crime and was considered a menace to society ......
Human rights are not applicable for this flesh hungry animal.. Animals like him should not be tortured or imprisoned when they are sure threat to the society because they may escape anytime and kill other people.. They should be shot without mercy before it claims other lives.
A right judgement made by the judge & this should became law in our country.
Very good judgment indeed. When will we make the law to punish the criminals of TV channels and cinemas? These criminals are instigating the people for doing such crime on 24x7 time frame. With out putting an end to these instigations, it is difficult to control the crime rate.
Happy to see that the accused are brought to justice in 7 months by Kerala Police.This provides a ray of hope of to the common public regarding efficiency of our criminal judicial system.
I really hope The Hindu will not point this as an example in their
'abolish death penalty' campaign. These men are a threat to the
community and the Judge did what was right.
Society should get rid of rapists and murderers because the number is
growing day by day. However, Human Rights Commission will now come into
picture against the verdict. I don't know where do they hide when these
accused blatantly kill innocent people. When its time to take action
against these culprits, they will intervene. Also now the accused will
apply to high court and supreme court and then mercy petition will be
filed...
Why is Death Penalty awarded only the 'Rarest of Rare' cases? If it is so, put any Rape in the rarest of rare category and award death punishment. This way rape cases will automatically reduce and become 'rare'. Don't forget that a rape is almost finishing the life of a girl. And a rapist who is not given strict punishment will continue raping ! All the more reason to award death punishment and save lives of innocent girls !
Bravo Hon. Justice for your historical judgement ! I hope this sentence is not diluted through any higher court of law upon appeal !
The Rape laws of the country need to be amended to provide for stiffer punishments.Rape and Murder should automatically attract the death penalty as should sale/transport of drugs/narcotics.Rape by itself should be punishable with a 30 year term with no remission.Manufacture ans sale of illicit liquor/hooch should be punishable with the death penalty. Our entire penal laws need drastic amendments.
"Sentenced to death" is judgement; later adds "if failed to pay penalty additional RI for 6 months" !! How to interpret ? Assumed would not be put to death anytime early eh ! Strange indeed ! Logic behind this ??
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