A district court in Kerala has awarded capital punishment to a man accused of raping and murdering a mother and her daughter, in Vandiperiyar area near Kumuli in 2007.
The victims Moli (55) and her daughter Neenu (22) lived in Vandi Periyar Valia Vala area. Neenu’s husband worked in Tiruppur and her brother Vinu too worked in another town.
On December 2, 2007, the bodies of Moli and Neenu were found with injuries said to be caused by iron rods.
Initially, the police had no leads in the case. Meanwhile, Vandiperiyar police detained Rajendran (48) of Periyar Surakkulam and Joe Mon from the 37-mile area in connection with murder of beggars in the area.
During inquiry, the accused allegedly confessed that they had raped and subsequently killed Neenu and her mother.
As per their confession, they broke open the door of the house as the victims refused to open the door after Rajendran pretended to be Vinu, Neenu’s brother.
The police subsequently registered a case of rape and murder against the duo. Later, they were released on bail but Joe Mon jumped bail and absconded. On Thursday, he was held near Munnar and produced before the court on Friday.
Thodupuzha Additional District Court Judge Maathu Kutteen, who heard the arguments in the case, awarded capital punishment to Rajendran. He was also slapped with a 20 year prison term.
The punishment for the other accused, Joe Mon, was yet to be pronounced.