Man gets death penalty in Dalit student rape case

Agencies

December 14, 2017

Kochi, Dec 14: A city court has awarded death sentence to Ameerul Islam, the lone convict found guilty in the rape and murder case of a 30-year old Dalit law student in Kerala last year.

Ernakulam Principal Sessions court judge N Anil Kumar awarded death penalty to Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam, for committing murder of the law student at nearby Perumbavoor.

Islam has been awarded life imprisonment for committing the rape of the woman after he was also found guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 376 (A) (causing death or causes the woman to be in persistent vegetative state while committing rape).

The court on Wednesday heard the versions of defence and prosecution in awarding the quantum of punishment in the case. The defence counsel had moved an application seeking a fair probe, arguing that Islam, who only understands his mother tongue Assamese, was not given a fair treatment by the Kerala Police, which probed the case. The court, however, had rejected the application, saying that the one submitted by the accused for further investigation was not in accordance with law.

The prosecution narrated the brutal manner in which the 30-year-old law student was raped and murdered, and argued that it was a rarest of the rare case. They had argued that a death sentence should be awarded to the convict, who, they said was a pervert. The diabolic and barbaric manner in which the crime was committed on the unarmed woman was almost like that committed on Nirbhaya, victim of the gangrape and fatal assault in New Delhi in 2012, the prosecution said.

Islam's counsel had said he was not guilty and that the police had framed him in the case. Referring to various judgements by the Supreme Court and high courts, he had argued there was no eyewitness to the crime and the death penalty cannot be awarded merely on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

Islam was found guilty by the court on Tuesday under various sections of the IPC, including 449 (house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 302 (murder), 376 (rape) 376 (A) (causing death or causes the woman to be in persistent vegetative state while committing rape).

The Special Investigation Team probing the case had used DNA technology and verification of call record details to prove Islam's involvement in the crime. The court had on December 6 completed hearing in the case and posted for Thursday the pronouncement of the quantum of punishment.

Islam was charged with raping and murdering the woman at Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. He was booked under various sections of IPC and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules. As many as 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which commenced in April last. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons before being murdered at her house. Islam, who had left Perumbavoor soon after committing the crime, was arrested from Kancheepuram in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, 50 days after the gruesome incident. More than 100 police personnel questioned over 1,500 people in the case. Fingerprints of over 5,000 people were also examined by the SIT personnel, who went through over 20 lakh telephonic conversations before reaching Islam.

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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