Kerala law student rape and murder: Supreme Court stays death sentence of convict

The Supreme Court recently stayed the death sentence of death row convict Muhammed Ameerul Islam in connection with the 2016 rape and murder of Kerala law student [Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam v State of Kerala Etc].A Bench of Justices BR Gavai, Sanjay Karol and KV Viswanathan called for the records of the courts below in the matter and also ordered that fresh interviews of the convict be conducted 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," it ordered on July 16..The State of Kerala was directed to place before the Court reports of all concerned probation officers within eight weeks.The Superintendent of the Viyyur Central Prison & Correctional Home, where the convict is currently lodged, was directed to submit a report about the convict's conduct and behaviour within eight weeks. Further, Thrissur Government Medical College was directed to constitute a team to carry out a psychological evaluation of the convict.Pertinently, the Court also allowed an expert to conduct in-person interviews of the convict in jail to prepare a fresh mitigation investigation report. "Ms. Nuriya Ansari is permitted to have access to the appellant who is presently lodged in Central Prison & Correctional Home, Viyyur, Kerala to conduct multiple in-person interviews for the purpose of collecting information relevant to sentencing and to submit a Mitigation Investigation Report on behalf of the appellant through the appellant’s Advocate-onRecord within twelve weeks," the Court ordered.The prison authorities should enable the same and also allow audio recording of the interview, the Court directed."The Central Prison & Correctional Home, Viyyur, Kerala shall ensure that, for the sake of confidentiality, these interviews are conducted in a separate interviewing space without any prison official or police staff being within earshot, and audio recorders be permitted to be used to record the interviews," the order said.The matter will be taken up next after twelve weeks. .The case concerns the death of Jisha, who was a student at the Ernakulam Government Law College. Jisha's mutilated corpse was found in her house at Perumbavoor on the morning of April 28, 2016, prompting mass outrage. The case acquired a casteist undertone after the deceased's family, belonging to Dalit community, lamented their apparent ill-treatment by neighbours in the area.Ameerul, a migrant worker from Assam, was eventually hauled up and accused of having committed the crime after allegedly breaking into the victim's house in a drunken stupor the night before. In December 2017, the Ernakulam Sessions Court had found Ameerul guilty of all offences charged against him, save for those under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code (causing disappearance of evidence) and charges under Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015.The Sessions Court sentenced him to death and also imposed four terms of rigorous imprisonment which were to run concurrently..On May 20 this year, the Kerala High Court upheld the conviction and death penalty awarded by a sessions court to Ameerul, the sole accused in the case.This led to the instant appeal by the death-row convict before the apex court..The convict has argued that the prosecution case was based on conjectures and surmises rather than strong evidence.Ameerul referred to a non-adverse mitigation investigation conducted by by Project 39A of the National Law University, Delhi on a directive by the Kerala High Court in May last year..Advocates Shreya Rastogi (of Project 39A), Aathma Sudhir Kumar and Maulshree Pathak appeared for the convict..[Read Order]