The Kerala High Court, which suspended the sentence and conviction of Hussain M, the first accused in the Attappady Madhu mob lynching case on Monday sentenced other convicts to life imprisonment and slapped a penalty to be awarded to the legal heirs of Madhu.

The HC told the accused that they are punishable under offences relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, use of criminal force for assault, abduction and relevant provisions under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. 

The Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K V Jayakumar rejected the appeals filed by the other 12 convicts. 

The accused were produced before the court and they were heard on question of sentence. Accused number 2 Marakkar stated that he has 4 minor children and an aged mother to support and pleaded leniency. He also stated that he is on parole and sympathy be shown. Accused number 3 Shamsudeen said he has a wife and 3 children and his wife has no other income and pleaded for maximum leniency and reduction of sentence.

Accused number 5 Radhakrishanan said he has an aged mother to support and pleaded for leniency. Accused number 6 Aboobaker submitted he is innocent and pleaded for leniency. Accused number 7 Siddique submitted he has an aged mother, wife and 4 children to support and that his mother is sick. Accused number 8 Ubaid said he has aged parents, wife and 2 children and prayed for maximum leniency. 

Accused number 9 Najeeb stated that he has 3 children and wife and pleaded for leniency and that he be permitted to continue on parole. Accused number 10 Jaijumon said one of his sons has a  heart ailment and requires replacement of valve and that his wife is unemployed. Accused number 12 Sajeev said he was innocnent. Accused number 13, Satheesh told the court that he has already undergone 3 years of imprisonent. 

Accused number 14 Harish said he has a small child and wife and there was no one to support them. 

Accused number 15 Biju stated he has a wife and 2 chidlren and they rely on him for sustenance. Accused number 16 Muneer stated he has spent 130 days in prison and that his father is sick and has a small child at home.

The Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Mannarkkad, sentenced first accused Hussain to rigorous imprisonment for a cumulative term of 11 years and six months under various sections of the IPC, along with a penalty in 2023.

There were 16 accused in the case. After the trial, accused number 4 and 11 were acquitted. Of the remaining 14 convicts, 13 moved the court with an appeal against their conviction. Accused number 16 was sentenced to simple imprisonment for three months.

In the appeal filed by Hussain, it was submitted that the Mannarkad court entered a definite finding that he was not a party to the assembly that went to the forest to apprehend and bring Madhu to Mukkali, where he was manhandled.

The prosecution case was that while the crowd was persecuting and assaulting Madhu, Hussain joined the group and stamped him on the chest resulting in his head hitting against wall and causing injury, which according to the forensic expert would have contributed to the death. Hussain was held responsible for the culpable homicide.

According to Hussain's contention in the appeal, it is not proved that the Hussain had any hostility towards the deceased or reason to be a party to the assembly of the assailants. The appeal petition cited that significantly, the court had not found Hussain guilty of the offence under the SC/ST Act.

The HC had last week directed the convicts to appear before the court on Monday, the day fixed for delivering the judgment. The bench had reserved its verdict on appeals filed by the convicted persons, along with a victim appeal submitted by Madhu’s mother, Malli.

Madhu, a tribal youth from Attappady in Palakkad, was lynched to death in February 2018 after being accused of stealing rice from a grocery shop. According to the prosecution, he suffered severe injuries, including head trauma, broken ribs and internal bleeding, and collapsed while being taken to the hospital.

The High Court had also directed four other accused in the case to be present before it. They include one accused currently out on bail, two who were acquitted by the trial court and another who has already completed the sentence imposed on him

The accused were charged under various sections (143, 147, 148, 323, 324, 326, 294(b), 342, 352, 364, 367, 368, and 302 r/w 149) of the Indian Penal Code, including unlawful assembly, wrongful confinement, kidnapping and culpable homicide, along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (3(1) (d), (r) (s) and 3(2) (v)). The trial court had found the accused guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.