Kerala Man Who Killed Neighbour, His Mother In 2025 Gets Death Sentence

A court in Kerala on Monday sentenced a 61-year-old man to death in the sensational 2025 Nenmara double murder case.Palakkad Additional Sessions Judge Kenneth George sentenced Chenthamara to death and imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh for murdering his neighbour, Sudhakaran and his mother, Lakshmi, at Pothundi near Nenmara on January 27, 2025.The court convicted Chenthamara under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder and Section 126(2) for wrongful restraint.Holding that the case fell under the "rarest of rare" category, the court observed that the convict had murdered multiple members of the same family.Chenthamara had earlier been arrested for the 2019 murder of Sudhakaran's wife, Sajitha, whom he allegedly blamed for his marital problems.After being released on bail in January 2025 in the case, he murdered Sudhakaran and Lakshmi.Police arrested him shortly after the double murder, following a massive manhunt.In the Sajitha murder case, a court had earlier sentenced Chenthamara to double life imprisonment.During the trial in the double murder case, the prosecution examined 81 witnesses and produced 28 material objects before the court.On Monday morning, the court heard from the prosecution and defence counsels.The court also considered reports submitted by the District Probation Officer, a psychiatrist and a mitigation assessment before sentencing the convict to death.Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Sudhakaran and Sajitha's daughters, Athulya and Akhila, welcomed the judgment and said they had faith in the judicial process."We are grateful to everyone who worked for this. We are happy that he has been sentenced to death," Akhila said.The sisters said they had decided not to return to their house at Pothundi as it was filled with painful memories of their parents and grandmother. They currently live in a relative's house."We have the memories of our father and everyone else there. We cannot go back. It is too painful. Every visit brings back those memories," Akhila said.They also welcomed the court's recommendation that the government provide employment to one of them.Athulya said the convict showed no remorse even after the verdict."Even now, there is no change in his facial expression. He has no fear and no remorse. We are happy that he got the death penalty. He should suffer for what he did," she said.Akhila said the verdict had brought them some relief."We hoped he would get the death penalty, and now that has happened. There is relief, but there is still fear. What if he escapes from jail," she asked.Echoing her sister, Athulya said the family would continue to live in fear until the legal process reached its conclusion."Until he is gone, we will continue to fear him. He didn't just kill one person. He killed my father, my grandmother and destroyed our entire family. He has lost nothing compared to what we have lost," she said.Special Public Prosecutor M J Vijayakumar hailed the verdict as a landmark judgment, saying it delivered justice in a case that had shocked Kerala.He said the court, after an elaborate discussion running to around 100 pages, concluded that the case fell under the "rarest of rare" category."The court completely rejected the defence arguments and accepted every contention raised by the prosecution," he said.According to Vijayakumar, the court considered the planned and cold-blooded nature of the murders, the absence of any provocation, the impact on the victims' children and the finding that there was no scope for the accused's remorse or rehabilitation while imposing the death sentence."The court sought reports from a psychologist and a medical board. Both found that there was nothing wrong with him mentally," he said, rejecting the defence claim that the accused was under mental stress.Referring to the evidence, Vijayakumar said scientific findings played a crucial role in the conviction."Biological cells belonging to all three victims were recovered from the handle of the murder weapon even before the accused was arrested. That ruled out any possibility of fabrication," he said.Vijayakumar said the court directed the state to pay Rs 20 lakh in compensation to the victims' family, as the accused had no assets.The court also recommended that the victims' eldest child be provided with a government job.He said the court further directed that if the convict is ever granted parole in future, it should be only after ensuring adequate protection for all witnesses.Alathur Deputy SP N Muraleedharan, the investigating officer in the case, said the verdict was the result of meticulous planning by the investigation team, prosecutors and senior police officers."Even after some witnesses turned hostile, we were not worried because the scientific evidence was strong enough to support the prosecution's case," he said.The investigating officer said the defence relied on questions generated using artificial intelligence during cross-examination."The defence raised several AI-generated questions, including on the standard operating procedure for preserving the crime scene. We were prepared for all of them and answered each one," he said.Muraleedharan, however, said the satisfaction of the police over the conviction could never compensate for the loss suffered by the victims' family."Our satisfaction is nothing compared to the irreparable loss suffered by those two children," he said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)