Youth gets death for rape, murder

June 1, 2012

vishwanathan

Alapuzzha, June 1: Viswarajan, 22, accused in the raping and killing of 34-year-old R. Smitha, a native of Koippallykarayma near Kayamkulam, was awarded the death penalty by the Mavelikkara additional district and sessions court-II on Thursday.


The verdict was pronounced by judge A. Badharudheen after a nearly two-month-long trial. The trial started on April 9. Hearing the verdict, Vishwarajan who had a hint of a smile on his face, bowed his head without any signs of remorse.


Additional public prosecutor S. Ramanan Pillai who was appointed by the government for the victim said that apart from the death penalty for murder, Vishwarajan had been awarded six months rigorous imprisonment for illegal detention and a Rs1 lakh fine as well.


“If the fine is not remitted, he would have to bear an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment. The court has observed the case as being the rarest of rare. The verdict will help to spread the message about the consequences of an assault against women,” he said.


The incident relating to the case happened on October 24, 2011, at 7 p.m while Smitha was on her way home from work. She was working with a private shop in Kayamkulam as a saleswoman.


Vishwarajan who was in an inebriated condition, hid near Smitha’s home and raped her. He then abandoned an unconscious Smitha in a marshy area. The incident took place just 200 m away from Smitha’s home. Viswarajan, a native of Oachira was living with his relatives whose home was near Smitha’s.


Following the incident, the investigation team led by the then Kayamkulam circle inspector A.N. Shanihan submitted a report before the court.


As many as 38 witnesses appeared before the court during the course of the trial. Shanihan told dc there was no hurdle in the way of the investigation. The mobile phone which was found at the spot of the incident was the turning point in the investigation, he recalled.


“The main significance of this case was that the majority of witnesses who appea-red before the court were women,” he pointed out.


A police officer who accompanied Vishwarajan from Poojappura central prison said that he had tried to break out of jail by jumping out of the prison building. This resulted in Vishwaraj-an fracturing his leg. Vishwarajan was brought to court from the Poojappura central prison at 10 am and returned to Poojappura at 2.30pm in a police van. The court pronounced the verdict by 11.15 am.


Security was tightened in the court premises. Advoca-te G. Madhu who appeared for Vishwarajan said to media persons that the verdict would be challenged in a higher court.


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News Network
March 28,2020

Hyderabad, Mar 28: Seven labourers from Karnataka were killed and four injured when the van in which they were travelling was hit by a truck near Pedda Golconda on the outskirts of the city late on Friday night, police said.

The deceased included two children. Of the 31 workers in the van, five died on the spot and two while undergoing treatment at a hospital, Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Vishwa Prasad said.
Four others were hospitalised and the condition of one of them is critical, he said, adding the other workers in the van escaped with minor injuries.

The workers were on their way back to their home town Raichur in Karnataka as the road project they were working in at Suryapet here was stalled due to the lockdown, Prasad said.

He said initital investigations revealed that the mango laden truck, which was on its way to Gujarat, was overspeeding.

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Agencies
June 26,2020

Kozhikode, Jun 26: A man, who had returned from Bahrain on Thursday and has been under quarantine at his house in Villyapallai near here, has been stabbed on his arm by an unidentified person.

Police sources said the assailant, with a masked face, had ransacked the man's house by break-opening the door at midnight lat night and stabbed Lijeesh on his arm and fled from the scene.

The nearby residents took Lijeesh to a nearby hospital and was put back on quarantine. 

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News Network
July 12,2020

Tamil Nadu, Jul 12: An alleged attempt by a 19-year-old man to "open a branch of the State Bank of India" at Panruti near Tamil Nadu was scuttled and he was arrested for forgery, police said on Saturday.

The man, son of retired SBI employees, had readied fake seals and challans of the public sector lender, and had other paraphernalia like a cash counting machine needed "to run a bank branch," on an upper floor of his residence at Panruti, about 25 km from Tamil Nadu.

He had not, however, put up any signboard. The SBI Panruti branch manager lodged a complaint with police seeking action following a tip-off by a customer that the man was "opening an SBI branch and has challans as well."

A printer who printed the challans and another who had made fake seals were held for similar offences and abetment.

They were produced before a magistrate court and enlarged on bail.

Asked if the man had cheated people by soliciting deposits or facilitating loans, Panruti police inspector K Ambethkar said, "no..we have not received any such complaint so far."

The man's late father had worked for SBI and his mother had retired from the same bank some time back, he said.

To a question, the police inspector said the man's mother, who has mobility issues, and another woman a relative living in the same house had no clue about his "idea."

Investigations revealed that he aspired to work for a bank and since he had closely watched banking operations for long he was "very knowledgeable" about it.

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