Kozhikode: A district and additional sessions court in Manjiri town of Kerala’s Malappuram district on Friday sentenced five men to life imprisonment for beating a 42-year-old to death in Mankada village in a 2016 moral policing case.While pronouncing the sentence, Justice Thosar M observed that the extrajudicial execution was akin to terrorism. The court convicted the five men under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with dangerous weapons) and 449 (trespassing to commit a crime punishable by death).The detainees are: Niaka Abdel Nassar, 46 years old, his brother Sharaf El-Din, 39 years old, and A. Suhail, 40 years old, and A. Abdul Ghafour, 60 years old, and A. Zakir Hussein, 49 years old.
In addition to the life sentence, the brothers and Ghafoor were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for five years and 11 months and a fine of Rs 15,000 each.The other accused, who were also found guilty of destroying evidence, were sentenced to an additional seven years and 11 months in prison and a fine of Rs 20,000 each. All sentences will run simultaneously. Three other defendants were acquitted – C. Shafiq (40), and M. Parampath Mansoor (40), and Abdel Nasser (41) – due to insufficient evidence.
According to the prosecution, the accused broke down the door of the house where F.’s sister-in-law lived. Zakir Hussain alone, in the early hours of June 28, 2016, claiming that the victim, Nazir Hussain, had visited him at an odd hour. The accused brutally beat Hussein with sticks for approximately two hours, leaving him unconscious. The court noted that the accused did not even provide water to the victim, nor did he allow him to be taken to the hospital, which demonstrated a cruel and inhumane attitude.Special Public Prosecutor PJ Mathew said images obtained from the phones of two of the accused, who recorded the brutal assault, became crucial in their conviction.
