Puthenvelikkara murder case: Ripper Jayanandan sentence commuted to life

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday commuted the death sentence on Ripper Jayanandan, accused in the Puthenvelikkara murder case, and awarded him life term without parole. Jayanandan, accused in five murder cases, is serving full life term in the murder of Elikutty, 85, of Perumbavoor. As per the 'Swami Sradhananda case,' the accused is not entitled to claim or get remission of sentence before serving at least 20 years of imprisonment.

The Ernakulam sessions court had given him death sentence on the ground of it being the 'rarest of rare cases.’ The High Court overturned this order considering his appeal. Jayanandan alias Jayan of Mala had murdered Baby alias Devaki, 51, and attacked her husband Ramakrishnan on October 2, 2006. After committing the murder, the suspect sprayed kerosene at the place of crime and left after letting the cooking gas on.

The prosecution argued that maximum punishment should be given to the accused. He was involved in 23 criminal cases registered in several police stations. The Thrissur principal sessions court had earlier awarded death sentence to Jayanandan in the Perinjanam double murder case in which Kovilakam Kalapurackkal Sahadevan and his wife Nirmala were murdered on October 4, 2004. He had chopped off Nirmala’s hands and also stolen her bangles.