When entire Kerala praised the court for awarding death sentence to Assamese migrant worker Ameerul Islam for brutally raping and murdering Dalit woman Jisha, his lawyer BA Aloor chose to use extremely harsh and highly controversial words to criticise the judiciary, which observers termed as an outburst of frustration over losing his case extremely badly.
“An innocent (Ameerul) is being sent to the gallows. When that happens, it only means that not only the Indian democratic system but also the Indian judiciary have totally collapsed. This proves that there are no judges with backbones in the lower courts. The court here has passed its verdict out of fear for public sentiment, police and the Government,” he said.
“The people might be happy over the death sentence awarded by the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court to Ameerul in Jisha case but it would remain as a huge question mark forever before the Goddess of Justice. This shows the State the trial court is in but I am certain that Ameerul will get justice from higher courts,” Aloor added.
Stating that she was relieved by the death sentence awarded to Ameerul, Jisha’s mother Rajeswari who was present at the court to hear the verdict said, “This would contribute immensely to ensuring that no other girl meets such a fate in future. For me, the judge who passed this verdict is God and I thank all those who stood with us, prayed for us.”
According to Jisha’s sister Deepa who had accompanied Rajeswari to the court, “I don’t know how many people will understand the pain and anxiety we had gone through for the past one-and-a-half years. We had been craving to hear such a verdict but our wish would be fulfilled totally only when he is hanged to death.”
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the awarding of death sentence to Ameerul was the Judiciary’s approval for his Government’s uncompromising stand on the issue of women’s safety.
He praised the police for the meticulous investigation it had conducted into Jisha murder and the Prosecution for the efficient manner in which it handled the case in the court.
“We succeeded in convincing the court about the gravity of the case which related to a crime that shocked the public conscience,” said NK Unnikrishnan, who appeared for the Prosecution. “The court did drop two of the charges we had slapped on Ameerul but that need not be seen as a setback because we succeeded in getting him the maximum punishment,” he said.
Additional DGP B Sandhya who headed the special police team which probed the Jisha murder congratulated her team members for the achievement. “I must thank all those who had supported us. I am absolutely confident that we have been able to discharge our duty from the very moment the case had fallen into our hands,” she said.
State Director General of Police loknath Behera said Thursday’s court decision is proof of the success and effectiveness of scientific investigation especially as the case had no eyewitnesses. “This is a verdict that Keralites wanted to see,” said Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, State secretary of the ruling CPI(M), adding that those who committed such crimes should get severe punishment.
