Mavelikkara Additional District Sessions Court has awarded death sentence to all the accused in the case of brutally killing Ranjith Srinivas, who was a BJP leader and lawyer in Alappuzha. Although the court has technically stated the punishment for only 14 people in the case of fifteen accused, the court found that fifteen people including the tenth accused who was unable to attend the court because he was undergoing treatment for stroke at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital deserved equal punishment. This is the first time in the state that so many accused have been sentenced to death in a single murder case.

In the rarest of rare cases, hanging is usually imposed. The conviction in the Ranjith Srinivas murder case is thus going to go down in the history of justice in a rare way. All the accused who have been sentenced to death are workers of Popular Front and SDPI. On the morning of 19 December 2021, the accused ganged up and broke into Ranjith's house and handcuffed him. This was the third in a series of political murders in the district.

Just before Ranjith was killed, SDPI leader K.S. Shan was killed in a similar manner in Manannacheri in Alappuzha itself. There were forty one cuts on Shan's body. The prosecution does not believe that the killing of Ranjith was not just a revenge. They found that the accused's killing of Shan was just a pretext to execute a pre-planned plan. The prosecution was also able to produce evidence in this regard.

The sense of responsibility shown by the police to investigate the case without leaving any loophole and prepare the charge sheet and submit it to the court is commendable. Similarly, it is undeniable that the prosecution also rose to the occasion. The difficulty of the law and the investigation did not help the accused in any way. It is also worth mentioning that the case was settled within two years without being prolonged indefinitely.

Ranjith was brutally beaten by the accused who entered the house in front of the family consisting of mother, wife and daughter. The whole face was cut and mutilated in such a way that it was not even possible to put a mouthful. It was almost as if humans could be so cruel. It may have been the disparate manner of the killing that led the trial court to decide that the accused did not deserve leniency in sentencing. Although the Sessions Court cannot be considered as the final verdict, the High Courts where the appeals reach will also have to consider the circumstances of the murder and its methods.

It can be said that justice has been served only when the accused receive the maximum punishment prescribed by law in the murders that shake the society. It is clear that the accused in the Ranjith murder case committed this diabolical act with full awareness of the punishment. Behind every case like this, you will see the intelligence centers that are invisible and do not come forward. They are less likely to be prosecuted. Only those who are ready to kill and die for the organization will come forward to do any despicable deeds.

The SDPI leader was killed as revenge for the killing of an RSS worker in Alappuzha itself. Ranjit's execution was carried out the next day, before it was over. The prosecution gave evidence in the court that the hitlist had been prepared earlier. The tasks of the police and the prosecution were extremely difficult. The witness list was very extensive. The collected evidence is innumerable. It should be highlighted in this case that they were able to convince the court with accuracy and get the maximum punishment for the accused.