Ameerul Islam, a migrant worker from Assam, who allegedly raped and murdered a 29-year-old girl at Kuruppampadi in Ernakulam district of Kerala, was on Tuesday convicted by the court.
The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court held accused Ameerul, guilty in the Jisha murder and rape case. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment tomorrow.
Twenty-nine-year-old Jisha, a law student hailing from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, was brutally raped and murdered at her house in Kuruppampadi on April 28, 2016.
The crime triggered massive public outrage and a heated debate on the question of women’s safety in Kerala.
Islam, the lone accused in the case, was arrested 49 days after the incident took place. A 1,500-page chargesheet was submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case on September 17 last year.
Islam was found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 302 (murder), 376 (rape) 376 (A) (causing death or causes the woman to be in persistent vegetative state while committing rape).
The accused, however, was not found guilty under 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and various sections under SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) amendment Act 2015. The court had on December 6 completed the hearing in the case and posted it for for pronouncement of judgement on Tuesday.
As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial which commenced in April last year.
More than 100 police personnel had questioned over 1,500 people. Fingerprints of over 5,000 people were examined by the SIT personnel and over 20 lakh telephonic conversations were also scanned before Islam was nabbed.