Kerala Judge Compares Dalit Woman’s Murder With Nirbhaya Case, Awards Death Penalty

Kochi: Drawing a parallel with the 2012 Nirbhaya case, a court here on Thursday sentenced to death a 22- year-old labourer from Assam for the rape and murder of a 30- year old Dalit law student in Kerala last year.

Ernakulam principal sessions court judge N Anil Kumar held that the brutal acts of the convict, Muhammed Ameerul Islam, definitely fit this case within the umbrella of "rarest of rare cases on par with the Nirbhaya case in Delhi". The incident had rocked the state in the midst of the campaign for the assembly elections last year with opposition parties attacking the then Congress-led UDF government for alleged "tardy" probe and "failure" to nab the culprit swiftly. "When collective conscience of the community is so shocked, it is the duty of the court to inflict death penalty," the court said in its order referring to the Nirbhaya incident, in which a paramedic student was gangraped on December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in the national capital.

The judge had on December 12 convicted Islam for the rape and murder of the woman at her home in Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016 and heard the defence and prosecution yesterday on the quantum of punishment. Islam was found guilty of Indian Penal Code offences including murder, rape, house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death and wrongful confinement.

Pronouncing the sentence, the court, which referred to the Supreme Court's judgement in the Nirbhaya case on various aspects, awarded death to Islam for murder under Section 302 of IPC. It also sentenced him to life imprisonment under IPC 376 A (causing death or causes the woman to be in persistent vegetative state while committing rape).

It sentenced the convict to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years, one year and seven years under IPC 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 449 (house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death) respectively. The capital punishment would be subject to confirmation by the high court and all other sentences would run concurrently, the judge said.

In the Nirbhaya case, five men and a juvenile had assaulted the 23-year-old paramedic student and a male friend in a moving bus as it drove through the streets of New Delhi. She was thrown out of the bus -so grievously injured that her insides were spilling out - along with her male friend near the airport. After battling for life for a fortnight, she succumbed in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012. The victim was given the name Nirbhaya or 'the fearless'. The incident sparked massive protests and led to changes in anti- rape laws.

Hailing the verdict, the victim's mother said she was grateful to the judiciary for awarding death penalty to Islam who had killed her daughter in a brutal manner. She also thanked the police, prosecution and those who stood behind her in ensuring justice for her daughter.

The Special Investigation Team probing the case had used DNA technology and verification of call record details to prove Islam's involvement in the crime. As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which commenced in April last. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons at her house. The accused was held from Tamil Nadu, 50 days after the incident. More than 100 police personnel questioned over 1,500 people in the case. Fingerprints of over 5,000 people were examined and police went over 20 lakh telephonic conversations before cracking the case.

PTI