The Additional District Court-II, Mavelikara, on Tuesday awarded death penalty to one convict and life sentence to another in the murder of an elderly couple at Venmony, near Chengannur, in 2019.
The court sentenced Lablu Hussain (39), prime accused in the case, to death and double life term, while Juval Husain (24) was handed three life terms. Both are Bangladeshi nationals. The sentences will run concurrently.
Judge Kenneth George ordered the convicts to pay a fine of ₹4 lakh each, which will be given to the children of the victims. A.P. Cherian (75) and his wife Lillykutty Cherian (68) were found murdered in their house on November 12, 2019.
The court last week found the Bangladeshi nationals guilty under Sections 302 (punishment for murder), 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) r/w 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 449 (house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death) of the Indian Penal Code. The court spared the death sentence to Juval considering his young age.
The victims were living alone in the house. According to the police, the two men had worked at the couple’s home a week before the crime and they killed the couple on November 11. The next morning, two friends of Cherian reached his home and found the door of the kitchen open. With no response from inside, they entered the house and found Lillykutty lying on the floor with her face smashed with a hoe. The police, later, found the body of Cherian in a nearby building used to keep household items.
The accused were nabbed from Coromandel Express in Andhra Pradesh on November 12 night while trying to flee to Bangladesh. The police recovered 45 sovereigns of gold and ₹17,000 in cash from the duo stolen from the couple’s house.
The case was prosecuted by additional public prosecutor S. Soloman.
