Jisha murder case
• Lone accused Ameer ul-Islam is guilty on three counts, says Ernakulam court
• Ameer accused of brutally raping and murdering Jisha, a 30-year-old law student, at her house in Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016.
• Quantum of punishment to be pronounced Wednesday
• The prosecution described it as a rarest of rare case
• Jisha's mother demands death penalty for the accused
Proof against Ameer
• Jisha bit Ameer's hand and the DNA report has confirmed it
• And Ameer's blood were found on Jisha's dress
• Ameer's shoe had Jisha's DNA, shoe
• A knife found from nearby plot also had Jisha's DNA
What is missing
• Police were not able to retreive Ameer's clothes
• His mobile phone said to be destroyed, but the police unable to prove why
Kochi: A court here on Tuesday pronounced Ameer ul-Islam, the lone accused in the sensational rape and murder of a Kerala Dalit woman, guilty. Jisha, 30-year-old law student, was found dead at her one-room house in Perumbavoor in 2016.
The court found Ameer guilty on three counts of forcefully entering Jisha's house, rape, and murder. However, the court did not accept the charges that he tried to destroy evidence.
Ameer was in court when the judge held him guilty.
Jisha's mother, who was also present in court, later told reporters that the accused should get the maximum punishment. She also said she was happy with the probe into the case.
Ameer's counsel, B Aloor, said that he would seek a lenient sentence for the accused.
Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court had on December 6 completed the hearing in the case and posted it for Tuesday for pronouncement of judgement. Muhammed Ameer ul-Islam, a migrant laborer from Assam and the lone accused in the case, has been charged with brutally raping and murdering Jisha, a 30-year-old law student, at nearby Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016.
He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules.
As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial which commenced in April last.
Mother demands death penalty
The prosecution has described it as a rarest of rare case. The mother of the victim on Monday demanded capital punishment for the accused. Islam, who had left Perumbavoor soon after allegedly committing the crime, was arrested from Kancheepuram in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, 50 days after the gruesome incident. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons before being murdered at her house.
The incident was in focus during the state assembly polls campaign last year with political parties attacking the then Congress-led UDF regime for tardy progress in the probe and failure to nab culprits. The LDF government, after assuming power on May 25, 2016, changed the investigation team and entrusted the probe to ADGP B Sandhya in its first cabinet meeting itself. More than 100 police personnel had questioned over 1,500 people. Finger prints of over 5,000 people were also examined by the SIT personnel who went through over 20 lakh telephonic conversations before reaching Ameer.
The police have said a blood stained footwear found from a canal near the victim's house was one of the key evidence in identifying the culprit.
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