Murderer brought to book in record time

ALAPPUZHA: The trial and judgment of Smitha murder case have concluded unusually fast. The Mavelikkara Additional Sessions Court has sentenced to death the accused Viswaraj.This is one of the rarest judgments that has been pronounced just seven months after the crime was committed and the case filed. Smitha was murdered on October 24 last year.The culprit was caught on the same night by Kayamkulam DySP S Devamanohar and the then CI A R Shanehan. A mobile phone found at the spot helped the police nab Viswaraj. Viswaraj had been staying with his relative at Karazhma for a few months before the murder. He was absconding after attacking a woman in Oachira two years ago. He had been sentenced earlier for rape. According to the police report, Viswaraj had  followed Smitha for a few days.On the day of the murder he followed her and attacked her with a wooden plank before raping her. The police submitted the final report to the court by mid-January. The court read out the chargesheet on March 26. However, Viswaraj refuted the findings of the police in the court.  The trial began on April 9.One peculiar aspect of the case was that no lawyer was willing to represent Viswaraj. Later, the court appointed G Madhu, an amicus curiae, for the trial. Special Public Prosecutor S Ramanan Pillai appeared for Smitha’s family.The court tried 48 witnesses and examined 22 pieces of evidence. The court included three witnesses after the submission of special application in the court. The court did not try 13 witnesses after special request by the prosecution.The police brought Viswaraj from  the Poojappura central prison by train. After the verdict, the police took him back to Poojappura in a special police van.Smitha’s father Ramakrishnan Achari, mother Remani, daughter Varsha, sister Sindhu and other relatives were present in the court. Smitha’s father said, “We expected death sentence for the culprit. Nothing will balance the loss of our daughter. Yet, the  verdict will provide a little relief to the pain that we suffer,” he said.