Supreme Court Stays Death Sentence of Convict in Kerala Law Student Rape and Murder Case
The Supreme Court has recently stayed the death sentence of Muhammed Ameerul Islam, convicted for the 2016 rape and murder of a Kerala law student. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Sanjay Karol, and KV Viswanathan has called for the records of the lower courts and ordered fresh interviews of the convict to prepare a new mitigation report.
“The execution of the death sentence shall remain stayed pending the hearing and final disposal of the present appeal,” the Court ordered on July 16.
The State of Kerala has been directed to submit reports from all relevant probation officers within eight weeks. Additionally, the Superintendent of the Viyyur Central Prison & Correctional Home, where the convict is currently lodged, must provide a report on the convict’s conduct and behavior within the same timeframe. The Thrissur Government Medical College has been instructed to form a team to carry out a psychological evaluation of the convict.
The Court has also permitted expert Nuriya Ansari to conduct in-person interviews with the convict to gather information relevant to sentencing and to submit a Mitigation Investigation Report within twelve weeks. The prison authorities are required to facilitate these interviews and allow audio recording, ensuring confidentiality by conducting the interviews in a private space without prison officials or police staff within earshot.
The matter will be revisited after twelve weeks.
The case involves the death of Jisha, a student at Ernakulam Government Law College, whose mutilated body was discovered at her home in Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. This incident led to widespread outrage, especially given the casteist undertones highlighted by Jisha’s Dalit family, who reported ill-treatment by neighbors.
Ameerul, a migrant worker from Assam, was accused of the crime after allegedly breaking into Jisha’s house in a drunken stupor the night before. In December 2017, the Ernakulam Sessions Court found him guilty of all charges, except for those under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015. The court sentenced him to death and imposed four terms of rigorous imprisonment to run concurrently.
On May 20 this year, the Kerala High Court upheld Ameerul’s conviction and death penalty. This led to the current appeal before the Supreme Court, where the convict argues that the prosecution’s case was based on conjectures and lacked strong evidence.
The appeal, filed by advocate Sriram Parakkat, references a mitigation investigation by Project 39A of the National Law University, Delhi, conducted under a directive from the Kerala High Court last year. Advocates Shreya Rastogi, Aathma Sudhir Kumar, and Maulshree Pathak from Project 39A appeared for the convict.
