Hearing on quantum of punishment against Dalit woman rape-murder held

PTI, KOCHI:  A hearing to decide the quantum of punishment to the lone convict found guilty in the rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit law student in Kerala last year, was held in a trial court here today. Ernakulam Principal Sessions court judge N Anil Kumar, who yesterday found Ameerul Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam, guilty of raping the law student at nearby Perumbavoor,

heard the versions of defence and prosecution in awarding the quantum of punishment in the case.

He then adjourned the hearing to tomorrow, when the quantum of judgement is expected to be pronounced. Today, the defence counsel moved an application seeking a fair probe, arguing that Islam, who only understands his mother tongue Assamese, was not given a fair treatment by the Kerala Police which probed the case. The court, however, rejected the application, saying that the application submitted by the accused for further investigaion was not in accordance with law.

The prosecution narrated the brutal manner in which the 30-year-old law student was raped and murdered, and argued  that it was a rarest of the rare case. They argued that a death sentence should be awarded to the convict, who, they said was a pervert. The diabolic and barbaric manner in which the crime was committed on the unarmed woman was almost like that committed on Nirbhaya, victim of the gangrape and fatal assault in New Delhi in 2012, it said.

Islam's counsel said he was not guilty and that the police had framed him in the case. Referring to various judgements by the Supreme Court and high courts, he argued there was no eyewitness to the crime and the death penalty cannot be awarded merely on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

Islam was found guilty by the court yesterday under various sections of the IPC, including 449 (house trespass in order to commit offence 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 Special Investigation Team probing the case had used DNA technology and verification of call record details to prove Islam's involvement in the crime. The court had on December 6 completed hearing in the case and posted for today the pronouncement of the judgement. 

Islam was charged with raping and murdering the woman at Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. He was booked under various sections of IPC and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules. As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which commenced in April last. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons before being murdered at her house.