Quantum of punishment expected on Monday
» Attingal double-murder case: Convict Nino Mathew says he did not commit crime
» Ready to accept any punishment, but I did not conspire to murder my daughter: Anushanthi
» Don't term me as the mother who killed her own baby: Anushanthi
» Both the convicts should be sentenced to death, consider it as a rarest of the rare case: prosecution
» Technopark employee Anushanthi, and her colleague, Nino Mathew, were convicted in the murder of the former's mother-in-law and four-year-old daughter.
Thiruvananthapuram: An IT professional and his woman colleague-paramour were on Friday convicted by a court of killing her four-year-old daughter and mother-in-law and attempting to murder her husband on April 16, 2014.
The accused, Nino Mathew and Anushanti, both software engineers working with an IT company in Technopark, were found guilty by Principal Sessions judge V. Shersy in the infamous Attingal double-murder case.
The quantum of sentence will be pronounced April 18, the coming Monday.
Prosecution seeks death penalty
While the prosecution held that the case was the 'rarest of the rare' and the accused should be awarded maximum punishment, the duo claimed that they were innocent.
When the trial to decide the punishment began, convict Nino Mathew told the court that he did not commit the crime and requested the court to give him minimum punishment.
Anushanthi, one of the convicts of the Attingal double-murder case, is seen at the court on Friday. Photo: Rinku Raj MattancheriyilAnushanthi, the other convict, said she is ready to accept any punishment and told the court that she did not conspire to murder her daughter.
"Don't term me as a mother who killed her own baby," Anushanthi reportedly said at the court.
Terming the murder as a rarest of the rare case, the prosecution sought death penalty for both the convicts.
Brutal murder of April 16, 2014
A retired government officer Vijayamma (57) and her son Lijeesh's daughter Swastika (4) were found murdered at their home on April 16, 2014. Nino is accused of attacking and killing the duo at their home. Nino Mathew, after committing the twin murders, had waited for nearly half an hour at the crime spot for Anushanthi's husband Lijeesh, who was not at home at the time of the incident.
Nino attacked Lijeesh, but the latter managed to run out of the house and alerted neighbours, leading to Nino's arrest, police said.
The police case was that an extra-martial affair between Anushanthi and her colleague led to the gruesome murder. The couple wanted to eliminate Anushanthi's child and her husband and lead a life together.
'Give them maximum punishment'
Lijeesh, who survived the murder attempt, told reporters that the two should get the highest punishment.
Lijeesh's statement identifying the accused was the crucial evidence in the case.
Lijeesh was talking to media after the verdict, which has come a day before the second anniversary of the gruesome twin murder.
41 witnesses, 85 documents
Public Prosecutor Vineet Kumar said the accused were found guilty under Section 120B (conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 449 (criminal trespassing), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 380 (theft) of IPC and 67A of the IT Act.
Forty nine witnesses were examined and 85 documents were used as evidence, besides 41 material evidence.
The court also took cognisance of digital evidence and proof produced by forensic science laboratory.
Video clippings seized from the laptop of the accused were also accepted as evidence by the court.
Police had seized the tools used for the murder and bloodstained clothes during a raid at Mathew's house.
(With inputs from agencies)
