ALAPPUZHA: The Alappuzha District Sessions Court III on Saturday sentenced the second accused, Rajani, to death in the murder of 32-year-old Anitha, a pregnant woman and mother of two.
Anitha, daughter of Sasidharan from Punnapra Thekkemadam, was killed on July 9, 2021. Earlier, the court had handed down death penalty to the first accused, Prabeesh, a native of Nilambur.
The second accused, Rajani, 38, of Pathissery House, Kainakary, was produced before the court on Saturday after being brought from a jail in Odisha in connection with an NDPS case. When Judge M Shuhaib asked whether she had anything to say prior to sentencing, she replied that she had nothing to say.
The prosecution said both accused murdered Anitha around 9.30 pm, inside Rajani’s bedroom. They allegedly strangled the victim, who was pregnant at the time, into unconsciousness and, assuming she was dead, took her in a boat and dumped her body in the Pookaitha stream. The body later surfaced, leading to the investigation.