India | Nenmara double murder case: Kerala court awards death sentence to repeat offender Chenthamara

Earlier, while convicting Chenthamara, the court had asked whether he wished to say anything before sentencing. He initially replied that he had "nothing to say."

PALAKKAD: In a significant judgment, the Additional District and Sessions Court-IV, Palakkad, on Monday sentenced Chenthamara (62) to death for the brutal double murder of his neighbours Sudhakaran and his 75-year-old mother Lakshmi at Boyan Unnathi in Pothundy, Nenmara in 2025.

In addition to the death penalty, the court imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh and ordered that this amount be paid as compensation to the victims' family.

Pronouncing the sentence, Additional District and Sessions Judge Kenneth George held that the case falls under the ‘rarest of rare’ category. The court observed that the convict had shown no remorse for his actions and continued to justify the killings. The court also noted that Chenthamara had committed the double murder while out on bail in an earlier murder case, in clear violation of the bail conditions, demonstrating a continuing threat to society.

The court held that the circumstances warranted the maximum punishment, taking into account the nature of the crime, the convict's criminal antecedents, and the likelihood of him committing similar offences again.

Earlier, while convicting Chenthamara, the court had asked whether he wished to say anything before sentencing. He initially replied that he had "nothing to say." When informed that the offence was punishable with death, he responded without emotion, "You may sentence me to death."

Public Prosecutor M.J. Vijayakumar urged the court to award the death penalty, arguing that Chenthamara had exhibited no remorse whatsoever for his crimes and continued to justify the killings. In contrast, defence counsel Jacob Mathew appealed for the minimum possible sentence, submitting that the accused had shown remorse and deserved leniency.

When the court referred to the District Probation Officer's report stating that he was likely to commit offences again, Chenthamara remarked, "I am not like Gandhi. If I get hit, I hit back." He further told the court, "Only when it happens to you will you understand the pain. It hasn't happened to you yet. I won't start it, but if it comes to me, I won't spare them." The court viewed these statements as further evidence of his lack of repentance.

The victims' family was present in court when the sentence was pronounced. Akhila and Athulya, daughters of the deceased Sudhakaran, along with Saritha, sister of the late Sajitha, witnessed the culmination of the legal proceedings that began nearly 18 months ago.

The prosecution established that the murders stemmed from Chenthamara's deep-seated grudge against Sajitha, whom he blamed for the breakdown of his family. Sajitha was hacked to death by Chenthamara on August 31, 2019.

After being arrested in that case, Chenthamara was released on bail. On January 27, 2025, he allegedly hacked Sajitha's husband Sudhakaran and his elderly mother Lakshmi to death outside their residence.

In the Sajitha murder case, the same court had, on October 18, 2025, sentenced Chenthamara to double life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3.25 lakh.

The case had also exposed lapses in policing. Despite Sajitha's children informing the Nenmara police that Chenthamara was violating his bail conditions by staying at his residence in Boyan Unnathi, no preventive action was taken. The failure later led to the suspension of the then Nenmara Inspector and other police personnel.

Source: newindianexpress.com, Staff, July 20, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

Death Penalty News For a World without the Death Penalty

Japan: Capital punishment for a minor

Death chamber at Tokyo Detention Center The Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the death sentence given in a lay judge trial to a 24-year-old man for murders he committed when he was a minor raises questions about the lay judge trial system and capital punishment. These include whether the lay judges correctly understood the spirit of the Juvenile Law in sentencing the defendant to death. It was the 1st death sentence handed down on a minor in a lay judge trial. The murders took place in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2010 when Yutaro Chiba was 18 - meaning he fell under the purview of the Juvenile Law. Chiba was convicted of entering his ex-girlfriend's house and stabbing to death the girl's sister and a female friend of the girl with a butcher knife, seriously injuring a male friend of the sister and abducting the girl. Prosecutors said Chiba killed the victims because they were trying to separate him and his former girlfriend. Since Chiba pleaded n...

Texas: The inmates who refused to die quietly and had to be gassed out of their cells before execution

Former crime reporter Michelle Lyons, who witnessed nearly 300 executions in Texas, US, reveals the desperate acts of death row prisoners who refused to accept their fate After spending years or often decades locked up in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, most Death Row inmates go willingly to their executions. However, some refuse to die quietly - with officers forced to gas them out of cells, strap up their heads and even give chase across prison grounds. Michelle Lyons, who has witnessed nearly 300 executions in Texas, US, exclusively tells Sun Online how certain inmates "fight like hell" in their last moments. On most occasions, Michelle watched from the witness area, with the killers already on the gurney - the stretcher where they'd be given a lethal injection. Seven prisoners once tried to escape from the Row in Huntsville - with one shoving magazines and newspapers under his clothes to help him roll over razor-wire fences. Others have had to b...

Saudi Arabia: Man beheaded for murder

April 27, 2010: Saudi authorities executed a man by beheading after he was sentenced to death for murder, the interior ministry announced. Saudi national Umair al-Shihri was put to death in the southern city of Bisha for shooting to death another Saudi, Muzakkir al Shahrani, with a machine gun, according to the announcement carried by the state news agency SPA. No details were given about the date or location of the crime, but the ministry said the execution had been put on hold until the victim's children came of age. Source: Agence France Presse, April 27, 2010

Former Florida cop to be executed on same day as 80-year-old Pasco man

In an unprecedented move in the modern history of capital punishment, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday cleared the way for 2 executions to occur on the same day. DeSantis reset the execution of James Duckett, whose execution earlier this year was stayed amid efforts to secure DNA testing and analysis of evidence in his case. Duckett’s execution was reset for July 28. That is the same day previously set for the execution of Dominick Occhicone. Court records indicate that Duckett’s execution is scheduled for noon. Occhicone’s is set to follow at 6 p.m.

Florida executes Dennis Sochor

Man, 74, becomes oldest inmate executed in Florida in state’s 10th lethal injection this year Florida put to death one of its oldest prisoners in its history on Tuesday, a 74-year-old convicted murderer who was 1 of 3 older inmates scheduled for execution within the span of a month in the nation’s busiest death penalty state. Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. He was convicted of killing a woman on Jan. 1, 1982, just hours after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

Oldest inmate set to be executed in Florida will face strict spending limit for final meal

An entire category of food is also off-limits for final meal requests in Florida Florida is currently preparing to execute its oldest inmate later today (July 14), a 74-year-old convicted murderer who has been on death row since the 1980s—but his final meal will be limited by a strict budget. Dennis Sochor is scheduled to be put to death later today, making history as the oldest inmate to ever be executed in the state. The criminal, who has been on death row for nearly 40 years, will be administered the lethal three-drug injection, with the process due to begin at around 6pm.

In Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison, 1,500 Death-row Inmates Enter 6th Day of Hunger Strike

1,500 Death-Row Inmates in Ghezel Hesar Enter 6th Day of Hunger Strike Amid Savage Executions The hunger strike by 1,500 prisoners in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison entered its 6th day on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Since last night, the physical condition of several prisoners has deteriorated. A number of the striking prisoners have sewn their lips shut and held up signs reading “No to Execution.”

19 July 1943 | Auschwitz's Largest Public Hanging: 12 Polish Prisoners Executed in Escape Reprisal

OSWIECIM, Poland — The SS carried out the largest public hanging in Auschwitz history on July 19, 1943, executing 12 Polish prisoners before other inmates as collective punishment for escapes and civilian contacts. The victims, all from the camp’s surveyors’ labor unit, were hanged on gallows built in front of the camp kitchen during an Auschwitz I roll call. The SS orchestrated this reprisal following prisoner escapes from the surveyors’ detail and unauthorized communication between inmates and civilians. Camp authorities used the recent escapes as a pretext to impose collective punishment.

Idaho | Death row prisoners sue over state's new firing squad

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – Days after Idaho made the switch to a firing squad for executions, two Idaho death row prisoners next in line to be put to death sued the state prison system, saying its director withheld information about how she settled on the specifics for carrying out the method. Attorneys for prisoners Thomas Creech and Gerald Pizzuto filed suit this week in state district court against Idaho Department of Correction Director Bree Derrick. In the filing, they called her approval of an updated standard operating procedure for the firing squad and lethal injection as a backup method “arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion and in excess of the statutory authority of the agency.”

Tennessee | Complaint accuses doctor involved in failed execution of violating medical ethics

A formal complaint has been filed with the Tennessee Department of Health regarding the conduct of a physician involved in the failed execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026. The complaint, submitted by Carruthers’ sister, Tonya Hervey on July 15, alleges that Dr. Mark Walton Fowler engaged in unethical medical practices during the aborted procedure. The state’s attempt to execute Carruthers was halted after execution team members spent over an hour unsuccessfully attempting to establish a backup intravenous (IV) line. While a primary line was established, the team’s failure to secure the secondary access required by state protocol led Governor Bill Lee to grant a one-year reprieve.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog