The Thalassery First Additional Sessions Court sentenced a 27-year-old man, accused of rape and murder of a housewife, to double life imprisonment on Friday.
Judge P.N. Vinod handed down the sentence with a fine of ₹2.5 lakh to K.V. Ansar, accused of rape, murder and stealing of the gold worn by the victim. He will have to serve an additional imprisonment of two years if he fails to pay the fine.
The incident took place in the afternoon of August 14, 2017, when the victim left her house to purchase fish from the market. The accused, who was hiding behind a bush, overpowered and raped the woman before killing her by drowning her in the nearby stream. He also took away seven sovereigns gold she was wearing. Her body was found by the people later in the evening. The accused had been in judicial custody.
The incident created much sensation and soon after the incident, people formed an action panel to take up the case. Around 45 persons were examined as prosecution witnesses in the case. C.K. Ramachandran, additional district government pleader, represented the prosecution.
