Thiruvananthapuram: One more person joins the death row in Kerala prisons after a man behind a brutal murder of a boy and rape of his minor sister was awarded capital punishment on Saturday.
A fast-track POCSO court in Idukki sentenced Sunilkumar (50) to death for killing a seven-year-old in 2021. The court sentenced him to death for the murder and also ordered his imprisonment till death for raping the boy's sister.
16 already in Kerala jails
Already, 16 persons who have been sentenced to death are lodged in different jails in Kerala. Of them, nine are housed in the Poojappura Central Jail and the rest seven in the central jails in Kannur and Viyyur. Although it was decided to shift all of them to the high-security jail in Viyyur two years ago, it has not been carried out.
Among the convicts are Muhammad Amirul Islam of Assam who was sentenced to death for killing a law student near Ernakulam; Nino Mathew who was found guilty in the double murder case in Attingal; and Thomas Alva Edison of Tamil Nadu who torched three people to death in a room.
Verdict on appeals pending
It was decided to move all the 16 convicts to the Viyyur facility for security reasons. The convicts have filed appeals against the sentences handed down by Sessions Courts.
Some of the appeals were rejected by the High Court while the legal process is ongoing in the other cases. The convicts have the right to appeal till the Supreme Court. If the apex court rejects their appeal, they are allowed to submit a mercy petition to the President.
The death sentence awarded to the Thiruvananthapuram native Rajesh was commuted to life term by the High Court two years ago.
Terrorists now lodged in top-security jail
At present, terrorists and those accused of treason are housed in the high-security jail. Some of the prisoners who were trouble-makers in the Viyyur Central Jail were also shifted to the facility.
The high-security jail is situated on 9.5 acres of land on the campus of the Viyyur Central Jail. There are 192 cells for lodging prisoners in the building complex with an area of 7,117 sqm.
Hangman vacancy
Even though there are many persons on the death row, there is no hangman in the State. The last person who was hanged in the State was Ripper Chandran at the Kannur Central Jail in 1991. The Superintendents of jails have received numerous applications from persons seeking appointment as hangman.
The remuneration for the executioner was raised from Rs 500 to Rs 2 lakh in 2012. The central jails in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram have the scaffolds for carrying out the death penalty.
Death row inmates and home districts
Rejikumar (Palakkad), Nino Mathew (Thiruvananthapuram), Anilkumar (Thiruvananthapuram), Narendra Kumar (Kottayam), Girish Kumar (Kollam), K Jithakumar (Thiruvananthapuram), Thomas Chacko (Pathanamthitta), Anilkumar (Thiruvananthapuram), Sudhish (Alappuzha), Abdul Nassar (Malappuram), Rajendran (Idukki), Ajith Kumar, alias, Soju (Thiruvananthapuram); Thomas Alva Edison (Tamil Nadu), Renjith (Ernakulam), Muhammad Amirul Islam (Assam) and Joemon (Idukki).
