Kerala court awards death sentence to convict in law student rape and murder case

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | Dec 14, 2017, at 06:23 pm

#JusticeforJisha #KeralaRapeCase #Kerala

Ernakulam, Dec 14 (IBNS): A Kerala sessions court awarded death penalty to Ameer-ul-Islam who was found guilty of rape and murder of a 30-year old law student, according to media reports on Thursday.

Ameer-ul-Islam

He was convicted on Tuesday.

According to reports, the court termed the crime as 'one of the rarest of the rare cases '. The court also said in its observation that the accused did not show any remorse after committing the heinous crime.

The rape and murder of the law student, almost a repeat of the brutality seen in the Nirbhaya case, took place in April 2016; its gruesome nature shocking the country.

Kerala - Puthenvelikkara murder case: Ripper Jayanandan sentence commuted to life Nation

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday commuted the death sentence on Ripper Jayanandan, accused in the Puthenvelikkara murder case, and awarded him life term without parole. Jayanandan, accused in five murder cases, is serving full life term in the murder of Elikutty, 85, of Perumbavoor. As per the 'Swami Sradhananda case,' the accused is not entitled to claim or get remission of sentence before serving at least 20 years of imprisonment.

The Ernakulam sessions court had given him death sentence on the ground of it being the 'rarest of rare cases.’ The High Court overturned this order considering his appeal. Jayanandan alias Jayan of Mala had murdered Baby alias Devaki, 51, and attacked her husband Ramakrishnan on October 2, 2006. After committing the murder, the suspect sprayed kerosene at the place of crime and left after letting the cooking gas on.

The prosecution argued that maximum punishment should be given to the accused. He was involved in 23 criminal cases registered in several police stations. The Thrissur principal sessions court had earlier awarded death sentence to Jayanandan in the Perinjanam double murder case in which Kovilakam Kalapurackkal Sahadevan and his wife Nirmala were murdered on October 4, 2004. He had chopped off Nirmala’s hands and also stolen her bangles.

Source: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/crime/201216/puthenvelikkara-murder-case-ripper-jayanandan-sentence-commuted-to-life.html

India's death row prisoners face horrific conditions, study finds

Interviews with inmates reveal routine torture, unfair trials and solitary confinement

Vidhi Doshi, Mumbai

06 May 2016

Prisoners on death row in India are living in inhumane conditions, facing unfair trials and horrific acts of police torture, according to a new study released by the Death Penalty Research Project at the National Law University in Delhi. The study is based on interviews with 373 of the 385 inmates believed to be on death row in India and offers a harrowing insight into the unbearable uncertainty the prisoners face and the horrific conditions they have to live in as they wait for judges to decide their fate.

Researchers said there was little reliable information about how the state handled death row inmates, and found it difficult to discover the simplest of details, including the exact number of people facing the death penalty. Capital punishment has rarely been enforced in recent years and huge numbers of death sentences are later commuted to life in prison, though many prisoners spend years waiting for their fate to be decided. According to a report from the National Crime Bureau, 1,303 death sentences were handed out between 2004 and 2013, of which three led to executions. One man, Yakub Memon, convicted over his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, was executed in 2015. The study is a window into the lengthy, bureaucratic judicial process in India. It shows that for those currently on death row, there was an average of five years between arrest and sentencing.

Death sentences are handed down without consistency, forcing inmates into an endless system of appeals, during which they often have little information about the progress of the cases against them. Many are unable to meet their lawyers and are not informed about the status of proceedings. Torture, solitary confinement and “violent investigation techniques” are also endemic and a host of social and economic factors can determine how a person is treated in jail and the sentence they get. Three out of four death row inmates were classed as “economically vulnerable” and 42% belonged to the “scheduled castes”, considered to be lower down in the caste system.

Both judges and defence lawyers were blamed for the inadequacies of the sentencing process. Researchers recorded various instances where defence lawyers were not present during sentencing, conviction and sentencing were delivered on the same day or judges failed to apply the “rarest of the rare” rule for death sentences. At the final stage of proceedings, inmates can write to the president of India or the Ministry of Home Affairs, who have the power to grant a pardon. As there is no time limit for responses, prisoners waiting for their mercy pleas to be heard had spent an average of 21 years and five months in jail. Researchers recorded stories of prisoners who had committed suicide in jail, and others who preferred an immediate execution rather than spending the remainder of their lives waiting for a judgment in prison.

Chitrabhanu, who spent 20 years on death row, tried to make a noose from his handkerchief in order to imagine how hanging might feel while he waited for a pardon. A researcher recorded his desperation during that time. “How many years can one live like this?” he said. Mental health is flagged as a serious and under-researched issue in prisons, with many facing violence and humiliation from fellow inmates. More than 100 prisoners spoke about sleep deprivation, many saying they could not sleep for more than three or four hours a night because of the uncertainty of their fate. Many prisons have in-house gallows – a remnant from colonial times – which are a constant reminder of looming execution.

Inmates also often fear their imprisonment is a burden on their families and loved ones, who have to bear the exorbitant costs of criminal lawyers. The use of torture is ubiquitous, the report said. Inmates spoke about being hung by wires, being forced to drink urine, being placed on a slab of ice and having a leg broken, forced anal penetration, and extreme stretching. Some gave specific details – being tied in a sack of chillies and beaten with the butts of police guns. Others left it vague, simply saying “unexplainable things” had been done to them. One inmate, Mayur, said he was forced by police to confess to killing a member of his extended family, a crime he says he did not commit. He told researchers that he was stripped naked and tied to a table while a snake was let loose in the room when police called him in for questioning. His wounds were rubbed with lemon juice and chilli. In chilling interview notes obtained by the Guardian, Mayur tells the researchers: “Imagine what it is like to be an innocent and be here.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/06/india-death-row-prisoners-horrific-conditions-study

Tamil Nadu - Tenkasi Triple Murder (2016)

 17 Feb 2016

Case Summary — Tenkasi Triple Murder (2016)

• Accused: N. Muthuraj alias Andavar, 36 years old, resident of Nettur village, Alangulam, Tenkasi district, Tamil Nadu.

• Incident Date: 16 February 2016.

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What Happened

• Muthuraj murdered three members of a family:

  • M. Pechithaye (48) — mother

  • M. Mari (19) — daughter

  • Govindasamy (75) — Pechithaye’s father

• The killings occurred after Pechithaye had lodged a complaint against Muthuraj for misbehaving with her eldest daughter. The accused had been released from jail just a week prior to the murders.

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Evidence & Trial

• Several eyewitnesses testified, though some turned hostile due to threats.

• The victim’s brother and a friend provided key testimony against the accused.

• The Alangulam police charged him under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and other related sections.

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Verdict & Sentence

• The Tenkasi Additional District Court convicted Muthuraj for the triple murder.

• He was awarded the death penalty for the murders.

• He also received two years and one month imprisonment for lesser charges related to restraint and intimidation.

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Notable Points

• The murder was considered brutal and retaliatory.

• The death sentence is subject to High Court confirmation, as per Indian criminal procedure.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/36-yr-old-gets-death-sentence-in-2016-triple-murder-case/articleshow/74408605.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal dies at 73

As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sabharwal delivered several important judgments dealing with constitutional matters. 

New Delhi | Updated: July 4, 2015 11:30 am

Former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal passed away on Friday at the age of 73. He had suffered a brain stroke in 2014 and was not keeping well since.

Born on January 14, 1942, Justice Sabharwal mainly practised in civil and constitutional cases. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 1986 and became its permanent judge in April 1987. He later went on to become the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in 1999, from where he was elevated as a judge of the apex court on January 28, 2000, the day of the golden jubilee of Supreme Court.

Justice Sabharwal was appointed as the CJI in 2005 and retired after a term of 14 months. After his appointment as the CJI, he had favoured abolition of the death penalty. He had said that while the statute prescribed for the capital sentence in the rarest of rare cases, he personally opined that capital punishment should be erased from the penal code.

As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sabharwal delivered several important judgments dealing with constitutional matters, including the verdict in January 2006, that held the dissolution of Bihar Assembly as illegal and unconstitutional. In 2007, Justice Sabharwal, while heading a nine-judge constitution bench, ruled that there could not be any blanket immunity from judicial review of laws inserted in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

The judgment held that all laws placed under the Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973, shall be open to be challenged in court if they violate the fundamental rights. Justice Sabharwal also headed a bench monitoring river inter-linking projects in the country. He was also part of the bench that had cancelled petrol pump licences granted under the discretionary quota of ministers. He dealt with the politically-sensitive JMM bribery case, medical scam cases and cases concerning unauthorised construction in the Capital.

The former CJI had set in motion the process of sealing properties in designated residential areas of Delhi which were being used for commercial purposes. His presence on this bench, however, courted some controversy after it was later known that his two sons had links with the real estate business in Delhi.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/former-cji-y-k-sabharwal-dies-at-73/ [last accessed 06.07.2015]

Madhya Pradesh: Death sentence for man convicted of murder of wife, daughter

Press Trust of India | Morena (MP) 

July 1, 2015 Last Updated at 20:28 IST

A court in the district today awarded death sentence to a man after finding him guilty of hacking his wife and daughter to death last year. Describing the act as cruel, Ambah tehsil Additional Sessions Judge P C Gupta sentenced Anil Sakhwar (30), a resident of Manpur village, to death for the murder of his wife Manisha (28) and daughter Anushka (2). 

Additional public prosecutor Ramniwas Tomar told PTI that Anil was not getting along well with Manisha for some time. On February 7, 2014, following a quarrel, he attacked his wife and the daughter with an axe. While Anushka died on the way to the hospital, Manisha succumbed during the treatment, said Tomar. Anil had fled from the spot but was later arrested.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/death-sentence-for-man-convicted-of-murder-of-wife-daughter-115070101127_1.html [last accessed 03.07.2015]

Madhya Pradesh: Man’s death penalty changed to life term

TNN | Jun 19, 2015, 12.31PM IST

INDORE: Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Thursday converted death sentence of a man, convicted in gruesome rape and murder of 9-year-old, to life imprisonment. 

Jagdish Mehar, 30, resident of Pallapur village of Rajgargh district of Madhya Pradesh, was in January 2015, convicted by session court for kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old girl and awarded capital punishment under various sections of IPC and Protection of Children From Sexual Offence Act. Advocates Abhijeet Dube and Rekha Shrivastava said this is the first time in recent times, when HC has reduced the punishment, in such a sensitive case. 

Jagdish had kidnapped the minor from his village and raped her on March 9, 2014. On March 13, 2014, a decomposed body of victim was recovered by police, and after investigation, Jagdish was arrested and booked. Sessions court held Jagdish guilty of murder, rape and kidnapping. As per rule, capital punishment awarded by session court is tabled before high court for approval. 

In high court, double bench of Justices PK Jaiswal and JK Jain set aside the capital punishment for murder, and their order observed that it was not murder but culpable homicide, so he could not be awarded capital punishment. HC upheld charges of rape and kidnapping and approved life sentence.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/Mans-death-penalty-changed-to-life-term/articleshow/47731693.cms [last accessed 03.07.2015]