KOCHI: The Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions Court, which deals with cases of atrocities and sexual violence against women and children, has awarded double life imprisonment to a 29-year-old man for raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl in Valparai in January 2020. Safarsha, from Kumbalam, in Ernakulam, was also slapped with fines totalling Rs 2.5 lakh. The court on Wednesday found him guilty of rape, abduction, destruction of evidence, murder, and impregnating the victim.
Judge K Soman awarded life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh for the offence under Section 302 (murder), five years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) and Rs 25,000 for the offence under Section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), RI of five years and Rs 25,000 for the offence under Section 201 (destruction of evidence) and imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life and a fine of Rs 1 lakh for the offence under the POCSO Act. The sentences will run concurrently.
“The convict shall first undergo the term sentences before the commencement of his life sentence,” said the court.
According to the prosecution, the accused and the victim were in love. Safarsha even quit his job abroad on the request of the victim, to maintain their relationship. Subsequently, she became pregnant and informed him of her desire to end the relationship. The victim made it clear that she wanted to raise the child on her own. This angered the accused. On January 7, 2020, he was entrusted by a car dealer, where he worked as a driver, with delivering a vehicle to a customer. Instead, he drove the car to the school where the victim was a plus-two student and asked her to accompany him to Valparai. He intended to murder the victim, the prosecution said.
Before starting the journey, he used a knife to cause an abrasion on her neck. But the victim refused to change her decision. A furious Safarsha stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest. She sustained 30 injuries and succumbed to her injuries. The four-to-five-month-old foetus was also killed. To destroy the evidence, the accused drove 3.3km to Varattuparai coffee estate, on the Athirappilly-Valparai main road, and abandoned the body there.
The accused was arrested on January 8, 2020, and had been in judicial custody since. The 1,354 days of detention he has already undergone will be set off against the substantive term of imprisonment. The fine amount will be paid to the parents of the deceased.
The then CI S Vijayashankar had filed the chargesheet. Special prosecutor P A Bindhu appeared for the prosecution. The court examined 51 witnesses, 103 documents and 20 material objects.