Wayanad: A death sentence and 12 lakh fine have been handed down by a Wayanad District and Sessions court to a 48 year-old man who was convicted of murdering a newlywed couple in their home of Vellamunda Kandathuvayalil area of Kerala's Wayanad district in 2018.
The convicted man, Kalangottummal Viswanathan, hails from the Kavilumpara in Kozhikode.
The court also awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment for robbery, 10 years for housebreaking and seven years for destruction of evidence.
The court, in its order, appreciated the efforts of the police team led by Mananthavady DySP K M Devasia, for cracking the double murder case as initially there were not many leads in the case. The police shadowed hundreds of suspects, including Viswanathan, before identifying him as the real culprit and nabbing him.
Viswanathan was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 28 year old Ummer and his wife Fathima, 19, both of whom were found dead in their bedroom on July 7, 2018. Fathima's bangles and jewellery were missing although police were puzzled by the fact that she still had some jewellery on her body and there was cash in the pocket of Ummer.
The bodies were found when Ummer's mother, Ayesha came to their house on Friday morning. She had stayed the previous night at Ummer's brother Muneer's house.
Hearing the cries of Ayesha, the neighbours rushed to the house. The reports claim that the kitchen doors were found to be opened from the outside and that the police had found chilli powder near the door as well as inside the bedroom.
45 out of 72 witnesses were examined in the trial, after the arrest of Viswanathan in 2020. Initially, the police had suspected that migrant workers were behind the crime, and the motive was slated to be robbery by the court.