Mohammed Nisham has been held guilty of murdering security guard Chandrabose, the Thrissur Sessions Court held on Wednesday. The sentence will be announced on Thursday.
Judge KP Sudheer arrived in court close to 11 am and pronounced the verdict in minutes. He asked Nisham to come forward and speak. Judge Sudheer asked Nisham how many children he had and whether his wife had a job.
Chandrabose' wife Jamanthi and her son came to court to hear the verdict.
You can read a blow-by-blow account of what happened in court here.
Public Prosecutor Udaybhanu urged the court to consider Nisham's past history of crime when prouncing the sentence. He also urged the court to consider that Nisham's guilt was proven beyond reasonable doubt, and also the manner in which injury was inflicted. He also pointed out that the deceased security guard Chandrabose was unarmed and there was no reason for attack.
Udaybhanu has sought the death penality for Nisham, saying he is a "menace to society" and that the case qualified as 'the rarest of rare' cases. He also told the court that KAAPA was invoked because Nisham was a menace to society outside bars. He also added said that Nisham had no essence of humanity as he had stamped on Chandrabose, saying 'This dog won't die'.
The Public Prosecutor also urged the court to direct Nisham to pay Rs 5 crore as compensation to Chandrabose's family.
After the prosecution made its statements, a representative of Nisham's lawyer Raman Pillai said that it was sad that the prosecution was twisting the case. He said that there was no motive for the crime and this should be grounds for leniency in the sentence.
The case has been a closely watched one in Kerala given Nisham’s notoriety and brushes with the law in the past. There were also several allegations that the senior police officers of the state were attempting to scuttle the case. Cases against them are being investigated by the vigilance department.
Twists in the case
Two months into the trial, the case suffered a setback as a key witness in the case Anoop, a security guard at Shobha Villas apartment turned hostile, claiming on October 26, that he had seen nothing. However, the following day, he told the court that his conscience would not let him lie to the court and stuck to his original statement – a description of how Nisham created a ruckus in the night, and chased Chandrabose in his Hummer and finally beat him brutally.
Public Prosecutor Udayabhanu arrived in court at around 10.30 am
On November 20, Nisham had approached the Supreme Court seeking that the trial be shifted out of the state. By then however, the Supreme Court had in a separate order, had directed the lower court to complete the trial by January 31. The proceedings of the trial were completed in the first week of January.
Nisham arriving in court
Another controversy that the case was embroiled in was that the law firm run by the Kerala Advocate General’s KP Dandapani’s wife and son was accused of defending Nisham. However, when contacted by The News Minute, the pair denied this.
This is not Nisham’s first brush-in with the law. In the past, he has been booked for locking up a policewoman in his Rolls Royce. Once, he was caught for allowing his nine-year-old son to drive his Ferrari. The case is pending with the Child Welfare Committee.