Rape and murder of woman: Kerala court sentences man to life

Pathanamthitta: A court on Saturday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a woman at Kottangal in Pathanamthitta district in December 2019, PTI reported.

Pathanamthitta Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Jayakrishnan G P awarded life imprisonment to Nazeer alias Naimon, a native of Kottangal, for the murder of Thinchu Michael.

The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 10 years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 376(2)(m) (rape causing grievous bodily harm or endangering the life of a woman), and seven years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 450 (house trespass).

According to the prosecution, Michael (26), had separated from her husband and was living with her partner, Tijin Joseph, who had also ended his marital relationship.

She was found hanging dead at Joseph's residence in Kottangal on December 15, 2019.

Perumpatty police initially registered a case and questioned Joseph for several days after the postmortem examination revealed that the woman had been raped and assaulted before her death.

However, Joseph maintained that he and his father had left the house earlier that morning.

The investigation was later handed over to the Crime Branch, which found that the knot used to hang the body was tied in a manner commonly associated with those engaged in timber-related work.

Based on this finding, the Crime Branch conducted a detailed probe and arrested Nazeer, a timber trader, who had visited the house earlier looking for trees for timber, the prosecution said.

The prosecution maintained that the accused trespassed into the house when Joseph and his father were away, raped the victim and later hanged her to make it appear as a suicide.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 44 witnesses and 64 documents.