Dalit woman rape: Kerala court convicts migrant labourer

Kochi: A court here today found a migrant labourer from Assam guilty of rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit law student in Kerala last year.

Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court judge N Anil Kumar is likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment tomorrow. Muhammed Ameerul Islam was found guilty under various sections of the IPC including 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 not found guilty under 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and various sections under SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) amendment Act 2015. The Court had on December 6 completed the hearing in the case and posted it for today for pronouncement of judgement.

Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam and the lone accused in the case, was charged with brutally raping and murdering the woman, a law student, at nearby Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and 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 prosecution has described it as a rarest of rare case. The victim’s mother had expressed hope that justice will be delivered in the case. She demanded capital punishment for the accused. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons before being murdered at her house. 

Islam, who had left Perumbavoor soon after committing the crime, was arrested from Kancheepuram in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, 50 days after the gruesome incident. The incident was in focus during the state assembly polls 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. Finger prints of over 5,000 people were also examined by the SIT personnel who went through over 20 lakh telephonic conversations before reaching Islam. Police have said a blood stained footwear found from a canal near the victim’s house was one of the key evidence in identifying the culprit.