Court awards death penalty to Chenthamara in Nenmara dual murder case

PALAKKAD: The Palakkad additional sessions court awarded death penalty to Chenthamara in the Nenmara dual murder case. A fine of Rs 20 lakh has also been imposed on him. The money should be paid to daughters of Sudhakaram, whom he murdered. If the fine is not paid, he will have to serve an additional three years in prison. The court, observing that the case was the rarest of rare, upheld all the arguments of the prosecution. A 140-page verdict was read in the court.

The court upheld the psychiatry and psychology reports stating that Chenthamara does not suffer from any mental issues. It specifically referred to Chenthamara's remark that, ‘I am not Gandhi, and will not spare anyone.’ The court observed that Chenthamara poses a serious threat to Sudhakaran's children and noted that the accused has shown absolutely no remorse for the crime. The additional sessions court in Palakkad also cited judgments from high courts in other states while delivering its verdict. Rejecting all the arguments of the defence, the court said every criminal has a future, and every saint has a past.

The verdict in the case had been postponed several times. The sentence was pronounced one and a half years after the double murder. The prosecution had sought the death penalty for the accused, citing the brutal nature of the crime. from the very beginning. The court found Chenthamara guilty under Sections 103(1) and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The daughters of Sudhakaran were present in the court to hear the verdict.

Chenthamara is the sole accused in the case involving the murder of Sudhakaran and his mother, Lakshmi, residents of Boyan Colony at Pothundi in Nenmara, who were hacked to death on January 27, 2025. Earlier, on August 31, 2019, Chenthamara had also murdered Sudhakaran's wife, Sajitha. In that case, he had been sentenced to two life terms and fined by the court. He murdered Sudhakaran and Lakshmi while he was out on parole during the trial proceedings in Sajitha's murder case. Chenthamara hacked Sudhakaran’s wife to death believing that she was the reason for his wife to estrange from him.