Kerala - Kollam   

Woman gets life term for double murder

KOLLAM: Sujatha, 48, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 by Kollam Third Additional District and Sessions Judge R. Sudhakaran on Monday on charges of killing her 67-year-old mother-in-law, Ponnamma, and five-year-old son, Abhiraj. Sujatha was also sentenced to three-month imprisonment for attempt to commit suicide.

According to special prosecutors Varinjam N. Ramachandran Nair and Krishnendu Suresh Kumar, the murders were committed by Sujatha on the night of May 1, 2009. It came to be known as the Kamukumcheri double-murder case.

According to the prosecutors, Sujatha got separated from her husband while they were in Punjab allegedly for having an affair with his brother. She then returned to her house at Pooyapally.

In the interim, her husband's brother got married with another woman. Sujatha, with her son, then went to her husband's ancestral house at Kamukincheri and demanded a share of the property from Ponnamma. She stayed in the house for a week.

When Ponnamma continued to reject her demand, she whacked her with a log killing her on the spot.

Abhiraj was a witness to the incident. Sujatha shut his mouth when he began to cry out and he died of asphyxiation. In an attempt to give the impression that someone else had committed the murders, Sujatha inflicted injuries on herself.

The Punalur police had charged the case. The judge had found her guilty on May 18.

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