THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Additional Sessions and District Court has awarded rigorous life imprisonment to the prime accused in the Ayyappan Asari murder case.
Eight other accused were handed a prison term of 10 years. Ayyappan was fatally stabbed by a group of men near Attukal Medamukku Mutharamman Kovil in 2004. There were 19 accused in the case of which three had died during the trial. Seven of the accused were acquitted by the court for want of evidence. Special public prosecutor M Salahudeen and lawyers Akhila Lal and Devika Manu appeared for the prosecution.
Judge Prasun Mohan sentenced the first accused Anilkumar aka Kadachil Ani to rigorous life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 16.2 lakh was also imposed on him. The other convicts were imposed a fine of Rs 1.22 lakh each. The fine should be paid to the relatives of Ayyappan, the court ruled. The court also directed the Legal Service Authority to pay compensation to the families of Ayyappan and his brother Rajagopal Asari, who was seriously injured in the attack.
Sunil Kumar, Santosh, Anil Kumar, Manoj, Unni, Satheesh Kumar, Pradeesh, and Santosh were the ones who were sentenced by the court. The murder was a fallout of a fracas between the son of Ayyappan and a flower vendor. Ayyappan’s son took flowers from the shop owned by Rajendran to lay a floral carpet in connection with the Onam celebration. This was questioned by Rajendran’s friend Kadachal Anikumar and his gang. They barged into the house of Ayyappan’s brother and stabbed him.
Case details
Ayyappan was fatally stabbed by a group of men near Attukal Medamukku Mutharamman Kovil in 2004. There were 19 accused in the case of which three had died during the trial