Five get life sentence in Kerala’s ‘moral policing murder’ of 2016

KOZHIKODE: An additional district and sessions court in Manjeri town of Kerala’s Malappuram district on Friday sentenced five men to life imprisonment for beating a 42-year-old person to death in Mankada village in a 2016 moral policing case.

The lynching was akin to terrorism, judge Thusar M observed while pronouncing the verdict. The court had held the five men guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with dangerous weapon) and 449 (house trespass to commit an offence punishable with death).

The convicts were identified as Nayakath Abdul Nassar (46), his brother Sharafudheen (39), P Suhail (40), P Abdul Ghafoor (60) and P Zakkeer Hussain (49), all natives of Koottil, near Mankada. In addition to life sentence, the two brothers and Ghafoor were awarded rigorous imprisonment of five years and 11 months and a fine of Rs 15,000 each.

The other two accused, who were also found guilty of destruction of evidence, were handed additional seven years and 11 months of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 each. All sentences will run concurrently. Three other accused — C Shafeeq (40), M Parambath Mansoor (40), and A Abdul Naser (41) — were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
According to the prosecution, the accused forcibly broke open the door of a house where the sister-inlaw of P Zakkeer Hussain lived alone, in the early hours of June 28, 2016, alleging that the victim, Nazeer Hussain, had visited at an odd hour. The accused beat up Hussain brutally with sticks for around two hours, leaving him unconscious. The court noted the accused did not even give water to the victim, nor allowed to be taken to hospital, showing a cruel and inhuman attitude.

Special public prosecutor P G Mathew said the visuals retrieved from the phones of two of the accused, who had recorded the brutal assault, turned crucial in their conviction.
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