Two sentenced to life in 2001 Kerala ‘honour killing’ case

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Kochi on Friday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for murdering a Youth Congress leader 17 years ago for marrying a woman who belonged to another religion.

The court awarded the punishment to Mohamed Iqbal and Jackie Haneef and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on them after they were held guilty of murdering M Balakrishnan for marrying a Muslim woman in 2001, in the first reported case of ‘honour killing’ in the state. Three other accused, including the father of Balakrishnan’s wife, were acquitted for want of evidence.

Presenting its case, the prosecution said that on September 18, 2001, three months after Youth Congress Kasargode (north Kerala) unit chief Balakrishnan married a Muslim woman, the two convicts forced him into a car and drove him to a secluded place where they stabbed him continuously.

The prosecution had contended that the woman’s father had hired the two assailants but the court ruled that the CBI failed to prove charges against him.

Although the prosecution had argued for maximum punishment against the convicts by stating that the case belonged to the rarest of rare category, the defence asked the court to tone down the two men’s quantum of punishment on account of the long duration of the case and their current living conditions.

Reacting to the ruling, the victim’s father M Gopalan, a retired tehsildar, said: “It was a long battle and I am happy my son’s killers finally got what they deserved.”

THIRUVANANANTHAPURAM: