The Ernakulam principal sessions court on Monday accepted Jisha rape and murder accused Ameerul Islam’s petition to appoint criminal lawyer BA Aloor to represent him in court.
Ameerul, who is the sole accused in the rape and murder of Jisha in Perumbavoor in April this year, had filed the petition through the Kakkanad jail superintendent.
Reports say that Ameerul had mentioned in his petition that he wanted a lawyer who knew Hindi to represent him.
Aloor had garnered media attention when he appeared for Soumya murder case convict Govindachamy at the Supreme Court recently. The apex court had then quashed the death sentence awarded by the Kerala High Court.
Earlier in July, media reports stated that Aloor had expressed his willingness to represent Ameerul Islam. Aloor had then claimed that Ameer’s advocate in Assam had handed over the case to him.
However, both Ameer’s family and the court appointed lawyer P Rajan had denied Aloor’s claims. The court had also refused to grant him permission to meet Ameerul in prison.
According to reports, the case is slated to come up in the Ernakulam district sessions court on November 2.
30-year-old law student Jisha was found brutally raped and murdered at her residence in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district on April 2.
Ameerul Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam was arrested nearly two months after the crime. While the chargesheet by the special investigation team named him as the sole accused, he had later denied the charges when he was produced in court in September.
Denying the charges while the court was hearing his bail plea, Ameerul named his friend Anar as the killer.