Alappuzha (Kerala) | A court here on Saturday sentenced a woman to death for murdering a pregnant woman at Kainakary in the district.
Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Suhaib M sentenced Rejani (38), a native of Kainakary to death and imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh for murdering Anitha Sasidharan (32) of Punnapra, Alappuzha, on July 9, 2021.
The court had sentenced the first accused Prabeesh (36) of Muthukadmuri, Nilambur, to death on November 24.
Then the sentence against Rejani could not be announced as she was lodged in a jail in Odisha following her arrest in a narcotics case.
Rejani was produced before the court on Saturday.
The court heard Rejani before she was granted a death sentence.
The court awarded Rejani the death penalty and a fine of Rs one lakh under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
She was also sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs one lakh under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Additionally, she was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).
The court acquitted both accused of the charge under Section 316 of IPC (causing the death of an unborn child).
The death penalty is subject to confirmation by the Kerala High Court.
The court order that upon execution of the death sentence, the custodial sentence shall lapse.
In case the death sentence is commuted or remitted by the appropriate authorities, the accused will be entitled to set off the period of detention already undergone from July 13, 2021 till today, the court order stated.
The court directed that, if recovered, the fine amount be paid to the father and children of the deceased and instructed the District Legal Services Authority to ensure compensation under the Kerala Victim Compensation Scheme.
Renjani was then shifted to the Women’s prison in Thiruvananthapuram.
The court in its judgement observed that the post-mortem finding that the cause of death was the combined effect of smothering and drowning indicates that when her body was taken to the river, she had not yet died; she was in an unconscious state.
According to the court, Anitha ultimately died as a result of drowning.
The court observed that it would be failing in its duty if the maximum punishment prescribed by law were not imposed on the accused.
“The acts of the accused bring this case within the category of the rarest of rare. In this background, the death sentence alone would be proper and legal,” it said.
The court held that the case falls within the purview of the ‘’rarest of rare cases’’, where the lesser alternative is unquestionably foreclosed.
“Having considered the nature of the acts committed by the accused, the manner in which the murder was carried out, especially when the deceased was carrying a five-month-old foetus, the accused do not deserve any leniency. The facts and circumstances of the case indicate that the offence committed by the accused has had a grave impact on the social order in the locality,” the court added.
Anitha’s body was found floating in the Pookaitha River near the Aryanthodu Bridge in Kainakary on July 10, 2021.
According to the prosecution, Prabeesh was in a relationship with both Anitha, a mother of two children, and Rejani, who was also married. When Anitha became pregnant, he allegedly pressured her to terminate the pregnancy.
Anitha, who worked at a farm in Alathoor, Palakkad, was called to Rejani’s house, where the duo strangled her on July 9, 2021, and later dumped her body in the river.
During the trial, 82 prosecution witnesses and five defence witnesses were examined, and 98 documents and 53 material objects were produced as evidence.
