A court in Manjeri in Kerala’s Malappuram district on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment BK Biju Nair (39), former additional personal assistant of State Power Minister Aryadan Muhammad, and his accomplice Shamsuddin (29) in the sensational case pertaining to the murder of a 49-year-old woman, Radha, at the block Congress office in Nilambur in the district a year ago.
Pronouncing the sentence, PS Sasikumar, judge of the Additional Sessions Court (1) at Manjeri, refused to accept the Prosecution’s argument that this was a case belonging to the rarest-of-the-rare category but agreed that it was a brutal act. There were only two accused in the murder case.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 86,000 on the first accused, Biju Nair. Shamsuddin of Kunnassery, the second accused, will have to pay a fine of Rs 41,000. The judge had on Tuesday found both the accused guilty of the charges the Prosecution had slapped on them including murder, rape and destruction of evidences.
On Thursday, the Prosecution requested the court to grant the maximum punishment to the accused considering the case as belonging to the rarest-of-the-rare category but counsels for Biju Nair and Shamsuddin pleaded against it by citing their family situations and the fact that any of them had ever been involved in any other crime.
The case had become a huge sensation in the State due to its political colour as the murder had taken place in the Congress office in Nilambur, the murdered woman was the office’s sweeper and the first accused was a former aide of the Minister as well as the secretary of the party office. Minister Aryadan represents the Nilambur constituency in the State Assembly.
The case had generated wild speculations which even reached the doorsteps of the Minister and his relatives. The investigators had questioned Aryadan Shoukath, the Minister’s son and the chairperson of the Nilambur Municipal Council, and lawyer Aryadan Azad, a relative of the Minister, as witnesses.
The Prosecution’s case was that the accused had murdered Radha, who had reached the party office for doing the cleaning job, by strangling and kicking her on the morning of February 5, 2014.
The accused then took the body, stuffed into a sack, in Shamsuddin’s goods carrier and dumped it in a nearby pond, the Prosecution charged. The body, in a mutilated condition, floated in the pond four days later on the evening of February 9 and it was taken out the next day.
The police had taken both the accused into custody the very same day. According to the Prosecution, Biju Nair had murdered Radha because he feared that she would expose his illicit relationship.