Thampanoor Gayathri murder case: Accused Praveen sentenced to life imprisonment, one lakh fine

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The court has sentenced Praveen, the accused in the murder of Kattakkada native Gayathri (25), to life imprisonment. He has also been directed to pay a penalty of Rs 1 lakh. The verdict was delivered by the Additional Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram.

The incident related to the case took place on March 5, 2022. Veeranakkavu native Gayathri, daughter of Sujatha and late Mariyappan, developed an affair with Kollam Paravur native Praveen while she was working at a renowned jewellery store in Thiruvananthapuram. Praveen, who was married and the father of two kids, however, concealed this fact from Gayathri. When she later came to know, he assured her that he would end his previous marriage. The two eventually got married in a church in the city. When Praveen’s wife came to know of this, she created a scene at the jewellery showroom, after which Gayathri had to resign from her job. Even then, she continued her relationship with Praveen. Later, Gayathri worked as a gym trainer at Arivikkuzhi, Veeranakkavu.

On the day of the incident, Praveen called Gayathri to a hotel in Thampanoor. There, he strangled her with the shawl of her churidar and killed her. He then attempted to pass it off as a suicide. Praveen took Gayathri's phone and uploaded photos of them together as his WhatsApp status in an effort to mislead the investigation. His plan was to make it appear that Gayathri committed suicide after having an argument with him over the photos. However, as this plan failed, he surrendered to the police.