The Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court VI on November 30 sentenced one person to rigorous imprisonment for 17-and-a-half years and imposed a fine of ₹54,000 for the murder of a person who intervened to settle a quarrel with the owner of a provision store in Mangalapuram last year.
Judge K. Vishnu pronounced the verdict against Baiju, 41, of Koithurkonam near Mangalapuram after finding him guilty of murdering Ebrahim Kunju, 65, of the same locality in an incident that had taken place on June 17, 2022.
The judgment had to be deferred by a day after the accused went absconding. He was nabbed by the Mangalapuram police later in the day.
He has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months and to pay a fine of ₹1,000 under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt); rigorous imprisonment for two years and a fine of ₹3,000 under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons); rigorous imprisonment for ten years and a fine of ₹25,000 under Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt); and rigorous imprisonment for five years and a fine of ₹25,000 under Section 450 (house-trespass) of the Indian Penal Code. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to the prosecution led by public prosecutor M. Salahudeen, the incident had occurred when the accused, who was in an inebriated state, had gone to purchase some items at a provision store at Koithurkonam. While he entered into an argument with the shop owner and refused to pay for the items he had taken, Ebrahim Kunju attempted to broker peace. This prompted Baiju to hack the victim using a machete. He died in the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital ten days later.
