The Ernakulam principal district and sessions court on Thursday awarded capital punishment to Muhammed Ameerul Islam, an Assam native, in the sensational Jisha rape and murder case.
The court had, on Wednesday, rejected the defense plea for re-investigation by a central agency. The court had on Tuesday found the sole accused, Ameerul Islam, guilty of raping and murdering the 30-year-old dalit law student in Kerala on April 28, 2016, in a Nirbhaya-like incident.
On Wednesday, the accused again told the court that he was innocent. He said he had no connection with Jisha. His counsel said all charges were foisted. The defense said Ameerul Islam did not even fully understand the questions asked by the probe team as he knew Assamese alone. However, the court rejected the defense counsel's plea and asked him to plead only on the quantum of punishment.
After hearing the defense counsel, the court asked Ameerul Islam about his family to which he replied that he had a child.
'Rarest of the rare'
Meanwhile, the prosecution termed the case 'the rarest of the rare' and had sought capital punishment to the convict. The prosecution said the case was similar to the 2012 Nirbhaya case that rocked the country. However, the defense counsel had denied this and said, in the Nirbhaya case, the court heard an eyewitness unlike in Jisha case, and hence the two cases cannot be deemed similar.
On Tuesday, Ameerul Islam was found guilty under various sections of the IPC including 449 (house-trespass in order to commit offense punishable with death), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 302 (murder), 376 (rape) 376 (A) (causing death or causes the woman to be in persistent vegetative state while committing rape).
The accused, however, was found 'not guilty' of offenses charged under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offense) and sections under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) amendment Act 2015.
Ameerul Islam denied justice?
Defense lawyer B.A. Aloor on Tuesday said his client had been denied justice. The court had praised the probe team for using scientific methods to establish the role of Ameerul Islam.
The investigation team had used methods like DNA profiling and verification of call records to establish his involvement.
The court also lauded the special public prosecutor and his team for conducting the case in a professional manner.
Welcoming the verdict, the victim's mother had said the convict be given maximum punishment of death sentence.
Additional director general of police B Sandhya, who led the probe, welcomed the verdict. She said the investigation team worked professionally. As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which commenced in April 2016.
Ameerul Islam, who had left Perumbavoor soon after the crime, was arrested from Kancheepuram in neighboring Tamil Nadu, 50 days after the gruesome incident.
The incident was in focus during the state assembly poll campaign last year with political parties attacking the then Congress-led UDF regime for 'tardy' progress in the probe and 'failure' to nab culprits.
The LDF government, after assuming power on May 25 last year, changed the investigation team and entrusted the probe to ADGP B. Sandhya in its first cabinet meeting itself.
More than 100 police personnel had questioned over 1,500 people. Fingerprints of over 5,000 people were also examined by the SIT.
The police said a blood stained footwear found from a canal near the victim's house was one of the key evidence in identifying the culprit.
