KOCHI: In the case in which Newman College lecturer Prof. T J Joseph’s hand was chopped for alleged blasphemy, the court will pronounce punishment on May 8. The defence advocate argued that the convicts are not habitual offenders and hence they be given time for reformation.
But the NIA prosecution counsel argued that the convicts should be given maximum punishment. “They are eligible for life imprisonment and they are remorseless for their heinous action. The verdict should be one that will send a strong message against terrorism,” he advocate said.
In total, there were 37 accused in the case and the trial of 31 accused are over. 13 were found guilty and 17 were acquitted. Six persons including the accused number one are absconding.
Shanavaz, Pareeth, Jaffer, Yunus Ali, K K Ali, Abdul Latheef, Jamal, Muhammed Sobin, Shamshuddhin, Shejeer, Kaffin, Riyaz and Anwar Sadiqque were found to be guilty. Among them, UAPA were invoked against ten. All the convicts are Popular Front activists. The convicts were charged for conspiracy, attempt to murder, forming of groups and inflicting fatal injuries. Arms and Explosive acts were also invoked against them.
The incident related to the case happened on July 4, 2010. The gang who had come in an Omni van attacked Joseph when he along with his wife and sister was returning from Nirmala Matha church after holy mass in the evening. He had allegedly set a question for Degree students’ Internal Exam that hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim Community.
As the question paper had become a controversy, a case was registered against Joseph for allegedly disturbing communal harmony. The hand chopping incident happened soon after he was released on bail. However, Thodupuzha CJM court had acquitted Joseph later.
No comments:
Post a Comment