A man, who was convicted by a Kerala court of killing two people on Monday, told the court that he was “unrepentant” and would kill again “if anyone got in his way”.
Chinthammara, 58, made the remarks in the District and Additional Sessions Court in Kerala’s Palakkad district before the court convicted him of killing his neighbor Sudhakaran and his mother Lakshmi in January 2025.
The same court convicted Chinthammara last year of murdering Sudhakaran’s wife Sajitha in Putundi in 2019.
Public Prosecutor M G Vijayakumar said the accused made the statements in response to the court’s observations that the district probation officer found Chinthamara to have no moral culpability about committing the murders and posing a threat to the society.
“Then Chinthamara said: ‘Yes, I have no regrets. I am not a Gandhian. I will do it (kill) again if anyone comes my way,'” the prosecutor told HT.
Although the hearing on the quantum of punishment was scheduled for July 15, the accused also asked the court on Monday to “go ahead and hang him,” the lawyer said.
The court found Chintamara guilty under Sections 101 (murder) and 126 (unlawful restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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“The court has examined all the factors in the case and arrived at this verdict. The circumstantial evidence and testimonies of witnesses along with the medical and forensic evidence presented by the prosecution in court proved to be key against the accused. The police have done a remarkable job in scientifically collecting the evidence,” Vijayakumar said.
He added: “We will definitely appeal the death penalty on July 15. We hope that the court will agree with our position.”
Chinthammara was released on bail in the murder case in 2019. On January 27, 2025, he broke into Sudhakaran’s house in Butundi near Nainmara, and hacked him and his mother Lakshmi to death with a machete.
The accused violated the conditions of bail. The police were also heavily criticized for not detecting the accused’s presence in the area and preventing the murders despite the threat he posed to Sudhakaran’s family.
According to the prosecution, the accused had held a deep grudge against Sudhakaran and his family for years after a local astrologer told him that the family was responsible for his wife leaving him.
Motivated by personal enmity, Chinthamara entered Sudhakaran’s house in August 2019 to kill his wife using a machete while her husband and children were away.
In the 2019 case, the lower court sentenced Chinthamara to life imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. $3.25 lakh.
