On the day when a Kerala court declared him guilty, Chenthamara, the 61-year-old murder convict, did little to evoke the judge’s sympathy. “I will kill again, I’m not Gandhi,” he said with a deadpan face. Now, he wants to help the minor daughter of the victims.
The mitigation report submitted before the Additional District & Sessions Court – 4, Palakkad, ahead of his sentencing, shows that Chenthamara has expressed his wish to financially aid his minor daughter as a fatherly figure. Counsels with the Office of the Legal Aid Defence Counsel, District Legal Services, Authority, Palakkad, held multiple in-person interviews with Chenthamara (Chenthamarakshan) at the District Jail, Malampuzha, on July 14 and 15.
The court is scheduled to declare his sentencing on July 20. He has been found guilty of murdering Pothundi residents, Sudhakaran and Lekshmi, in January 2025.
Chenthamara, who did not express remorse on the first day of the interview, was visibly moved on the second day when asked about Sudhakaran’s daughters. He said he saw the second daughter of Sudhakaran at the court on the judgment day and felt deep sorrow. He said he remembered his own daughter when she saw her and realised she had become an orphan.
According to the report, he stated that no apology could compensate for the loss the girl suffered because of his deed.
The report notes that he regretted the incident and that if he remained physically fit during his jail term, he wished to earn money from prison labour and send savings to his second daughter. He denied allegations that he intended to kill Sudhakaran’s daughters, Akhila and Athulya. After Chenthamara was pronounced guilty by the court on July 13, both of them demanded capital punishment for him.
Chenthamara was also visibly emotional while speaking about his wife and daughter. He was proud of his daughter’s academic achievements and said he didn’t blame his wife for leaving him during financial hardships.
He was earlier convicted for the murder of Sudhakaran’s wife, Sajitha, in 2019.
The report blames the state for its failure to monitor a high-risk individual after Chenthamara was released on bail. It cited that no parole officer, social worker or medical professional was assigned to monitor Chenthamara’s psychiatric stability while on bail. The counsels noted in the report that his actions were not calculated, but a catastrophic explosion of a severely damaged brain.
“The sudden transition from the prison’s total control to the absolute isolation of free society triggered an immediate psychological collapse,” the report said.
