THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Nedumangad SC/ST Special Court on Wednesday sentenced all 11 convicts in the Pothencode Sudheesh murder case to life imprisonment. Judge A Shajahan delivered the verdict a day after finding all the accused guilty.
According to the case, an 11-member gang hacked to death Mangalapuram native Sudheesh, 32, on December 11, 2021. Police said the victim, who had a criminal background, was killed during a scuffle between rival gangs. CCTV footage showed the convicts celebrating the murder with the severed foot of the victim.
The police charged the accused with murder, criminal conspiracy and causing injury with weapons.
The convicts are Ottakam Rajesh, Sudheesh aka Unni, Shyam, Nidheesh, Nandeesh, Ranjith, Sreenath, Sooraj, Arun, Jishnu Pradeep and Sachin. The incident happened around 2.30 pm on December 11, 2021, when the gang chased Sudheesh who had taken refuge at a relative’s house and hacked him to death.
The gang, arriving on two bikes and an autorickshaw, also damaged the window panes and door of the house where he was hiding.
According to police, Sudheesh suffered more than a hundred cut injuries. He bled to death after the gang chopped off his foot in front of his wife and child. The attackers carried the severed foot for over half a kilometre before discarding it.
The murder was an act of revenge for an earlier attack by Sudheesh on one of their associates.