KOTTATYAM: The Kottayam Principal Sessions Court awarded double life sentence to ten accused in the Kevin murder case. A fine of Rs 40,000 each has been slapped on them. One lakh from the amount should be given to Aneesh Sebastian, the witness in the case. The remaining amount should be given equally to Neenu Chacko and Kevin’s father Joseph. The court in the verdict mentioned that it would be enough for the accused to undergo the sentence concurrently. The prosecution had demanded maximum punishment of death sentence as the case was rarest of the rare. The court avoided death sentence considering their age and their non-criminal past.

The court had found guilty ten accused including Neenu’s brother Shanu Chacko and mentioned the case as rarest of the rare and called it as honour killing. This is the first case of honour killing in Kerala. The court's finding was based on Neenu’s crucial statement. The murder was committed after Neenu married Kevin, a dalit Christian. Double life imprisonment was awarded to first accused Shanu Chacko (27), second accused Niyaz Mon (24), third accused Ishan Ismail (21), fourth accused Riyaz (27), sixth accused Manu Muraleedharan (27), seventh accused Shifin Sajad (28), eighth accused N Nishad (23), ninth accused Tittu Jerome (25), eleventh accused Fazil Sherif (26) and twelfth accused Shanu Shajahan (25). All the accused are friends and relatives.

The accused were found guilty under various sections of Indian Penal Code, including 302 (murder) and 364A (kidnapping for ransom) or in order to compel any other person to do or abstain from doing any act). In the early hours of May 27, 2018, Kevin and Aneesh were abducted and the latter was let off later. However, Kevin's body was recovered from a stream near Chaliyekkara, near Thenmala.