Kerala Court Issues Death Sentence in Murder of Pregnant Woman Anita

Alappuzha: In the murder case of Anita, who was killed four years ago in Alappuzha, the court has sentenced two accused to death. The Alappuzha Additional District Sessions Court (III) today issued the death sentence to the second accused, Rajani (38). The first accused, Prabeesh, had already been sentenced to death earlier.

On the day Prabeesh was sentenced, Rajani was not present in court because she was in remand in an Odisha jail in connection with a narcotics case. While out on bail during the trial, Rajani was arrested in Odisha with cannabis. The trial was therefore completed through online proceedings. Rajani was presented before the court today. Anita was killed on July 9, 2021, at around 9:30 pm.

Prabeesh met Anita while he was in Kayamkulam for work. Anita, who had been separated from her husband due to marital issues, was living alone at the time, and she became close to Prabeesh. When she became pregnant, Anita asked Prabeesh to marry her. However, Prabeesh refused to take responsibility for the pregnancy.

When this relationship became known to Rajani — another woman he was romantically involved with — Prabeesh suggested that he could support both women. Both Rajani and Anita rejected the idea. It was then that Prabeesh and Rajani decided to eliminate Anita.

After their attempts to terminate the pregnancy failed, Prabeesh and Rajani conspired to kill Anita. She was lured to Rajani’s house in Kainakary with the intention of murdering her. According to the case, after Prabeesh had sexual intercourse with Anita at Rajani’s house, he strangled her while Rajani covered Anita’s mouth and nose, suffocating her. Believing Anita to be dead, they placed her body in a small fibre boat and transported it about 100 metres away to the river. Rajani rowed the boat. When they reached the riverbank, Prabeesh tried to get into the boat, causing it to overturn. They abandoned both the boat and Anita there and returned home. Anita died after falling into the water.

There were 112 witnesses in the case, of whom 82 were examined. The prosecution submitted 131 documents and 53 pieces of material evidence, including the fibre boat. Rajani’s mother testified in support of the prosecution.