‘Moral Policing’: Kerala Court Sentences Five Muslim League Workers to Life Term for Beating Man to Death

Malappuram: A court in Malappuram has sentenced five Muslim League workers to life imprisonment for beating a 42-year-old man to death in a suspected moral policing incident at Mankada in 2016.

Additional District and Sessions Judge I Thushar M sentenced the five men - Abdul Nazar, Sharafudheen, Suhail, Abdul Gafoora and Sakkeer Hussain - to life imprisonment and said that such instances of mob lynching must be discouraged, Special Public Prosecutor P G Mathew told reporters outside the court.

The court also imposed a fine of 85,000 on each of the accused and directed that the amount, if recovered, be handed over to the victim’s legal heirs.

Earlier, on February 17, the court had convicted the five men under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including unlawful assembly, rioting, rioting with deadly weapons, house trespass and murder. Two of the accused, Suhail and Sakkeer Hussain, were also convicted for destruction of evidence.

According to the prosecution, the victim, Nasir Hussain, had gone to the house of a female friend with her consent. The accused allegedly entered the house forcibly and assaulted him with wooden sticks and logs. The prosecution said the attackers did not allow anyone to give water to the victim or take him to the hospital.

The court accepted the prosecution’s argument that the assault was carried out with the intention to kill. Citing Supreme Court observations, the court also viewed the incident as a serious act resembling terrorism in nature, the prosecutor said.