Alappuzha: The Mavelikkara Additional District Sessions Court-1 on Tuesday awarded the death penalty to all 15 convicts in the Ranjeet murder case after arriving at the finding that the brutal murder can be classified as the ‘rarest of rare case’.

“The court said that the act of 12 armed assailants brutally attacking an unarmed man with deadly weapons naturally comes under the purview of the rarest of the rare doctrine,” Special Public Prosecutor Prathap G Padickkal told media.

The judiciary is the guardian of lawfulness and the main pillar in a democratic setup. It’s obliged to carry out the additional responsibility in this regard effectively. Hence, the convicts deserve no mercy and leniency in terms of punishment, the court observed, justifying the verdict.

It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that so many persons have been awarded capital punishment in a single case in which one person was murdered, the public prosecutor said. Technically, the court awarded capital punishment to 14 convicts only as one of them, the tenth convict -- Navas Vattakattussery – could not be produced in the court today. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram. He too will be awarded the death sentence when he would appear before it at a later date.

Besides the death sentence, the court directed that the first eight accused, who took part directly in the murder act, should undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. It slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on each of them. 

“Besides, the first eight accused should also undergo seven years of rigorous imprisonment and remit a fine of 5,000 each under Section IPC 506 (2). The accused 9, 11, and 15th accused should undergo seven years RI and remit a fine of Rs 10,000 each for destroying evidence. The first nine accused and those from 11 to 15 should undergo six months RI as per IPC 143. Additionally, the first nine accused and the 11th and 12th accused should undergo two years RI (as per sec 147). These accused also need to undergo three years RI (as per Sec 142). Accused 9, 11, and 12 were also awarded three months RI (as per as per IPC 447, 149 sections), and accused 1, 5, 9, 11 and 12 were awarded two years RI and Rs 10000 as a fine (as per IPC 427),” Adv Prathap G Padickkal said.

“The eight accused was awarded an additional three years RI and Rs 5000 fine for attacking the mother of the accused. Accused 2,7 and 8 were awarded one-year RI (as per IPC 323). The first 8 accused were awarded one-month additional Rigorous Imprisonment (as per IPC 341),” he said.