Death to techie, life term to girl friend

 The Thiruvananthapuram Principal Sessions Court on Monday awarded death sentence to Nino Mathew (42), the prime accused in the sensational 2014 Attingal double-murder case.

Principal Sessions Judge V Shercy accepted the prosecution’s contention that it was a “rarest of rare” case and sentenced Anusanthi (33), the other accused in the case, to double life imprisonment, to be served concurrently. The court had convicted the accused on Friday on charges including murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

According to the prosecution, Nino Mathew and Anusanthi, colleagues in an IT company and involved in a relationship, had conspired to kill Omana (60), mother of Anusanthi’s husband Lijeesh, and Swastika, Anusanthi’s three-and-a-half-years-old daughter. Mathew also attempted to kill Lijeesh, all to ensure that his relationship with Anusanthi continued unopposed. The two accused had decided on the plan after Lijeesh became aware of their relationship. Anusanthi provided photographs detailing her home layout to Mathew to help him with escape routes after the crime.

On April 16, 2014, Mathew entered Lijeesh’s home in Attingal near here and assaulted Omana and the child. After bludgeoning them to death with a baseball bat, he waited for Lijeesh to be home. Mathew took jewellery from the victims’ bodies to divert the probe to possibilities of a theft. He sprayed chilli powder on Lijeesh before assaulting him with a machete. Lijeesh sustained serious injuries but survived.

Mathew fled the scene after the injured Lijeesh ran out of the home. Lijeesh’s statement on Mathew’s relationship with Anusanthi led to their arrest on the same day. WhatsApp messages and video clips establishing the relationship were presented as evidence in the case. Police filed a charge-sheet in July 2014 and trial commenced in October 2015.

A disgrace

Pronouncing the sentence, the judge called it a horrific crime and said Anusanthi was “a disgrace” to the idea of motherhood. Special Public Prosecutor V S Vineeth Kumar said that Anusanthi was spared the death penalty because she was not directly involved in the act of crime.

“The judge called the killings brutal and said all the perfumes of Arabia would not be enough to wash away the stench of these murders,” he said. The two accused will also have to pay as fine Rs 50 lakh each to Lijeesh’s family. Lijeesh, who was key witness in the case, told reporters that he was “content” with the judgment.