Dreaded killer Ripper Jayanandan has said that he does not even know how long he has been behind the bars.
Ripper Jayanandan, who was awarded death penalty in Puthenvelikkara murder case, said this to a query by the Kerala High Court on Monday.
Jayanandan was produced before the court on Monday for interrogation as several facts were omitted by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court during the case trial.
Later, the court read a chart submitted by prosecutor Roy Thomas elaborating on the criminal antecedents of the accused.
It stated that the accused was involved in 23 criminal cases. Thrissur Principal Sessions Court had earlier awarded him death sentence in Perinjanam double murder case in which Perinjanam Kovilakam Kalapurackkal Sahadevan and wife Nirmala was murdered on October 4, 2004.
Considering Jayanandan’s appeal the High Court had commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.
He was an accused in two other murder cases and also three cases of jail break.
A Division Bench comprising Justice V K Mohanan and Justice B Kemal Pasha also verified Jayanandan’s signatures in the documents.
Jayanandan denied the statement given by his wife that a signature in one of the documents was her husband’s. “The Bench made an earnest effort to elicit from the accused all matters which eventually bear on to conviction and sentence,” the bench observed. After the questioning, Jayanandan was sent back to jail.
Earlier, the Sessions Judge had awarded the death sentence by considering the case as ‘the rarest of rare case’.
The case was that Jayanandan alias Jayan of Mala murdered Baby alias Devaki, 51, and attacked her husband Ramakrishnan. The incident took place on October 2, 2006. After committing the murder, the suspect sprayed kerosene at the place of crime and left after letting the cooking gas on.
Meanwhile, advocate Ranjtith Marar claimed that he got the vakalath of Jayanandan to represent him. The court verified this with Jayanandan.
Even though the advocate sought permission to speak to Jayanandan, the court said that any discussion should be held in the court room only as there may be chances for the accused to flee from police net.