Kerala techie gets death, lover life term for double murder

Thiruvananthapuram: A court here on Monday sentenced a 42-year-old IT professional to death and his married lover to double life imprisonment for murdering her four-year-old daughter and mother-in-law in 2014.

Nino Mathew and Anu Shanti were both colleagues at an IT firm in Technopark here. The two were in love and planned to eliminate those who were opposed to their relationship.

In April 2014, Mathew went to the home of 34-year-old Anu Shanti near the Technopark campus, and killed her daughter and mother-in-law, using a knife and a baseball bat.

After committing the cold-blooded murder, Mathew waited for the woman's husband Lijesh to come home.

When the husband arrived, there was a tussle between the two. Mathew escaped but was arrested soon. His lover - LIjesh's wife Anu - was also taken into custody.

The Thiruvananthapuram principal sessions court last week found both of them guilty of the murders.

On Monday, the court sentenced Mathew to death, and handed out a double life term to Shanti for helping him escape after committing the murders by sending him pictures of the escape route he could take.

The court said Shanti was "a shame to motherhood".

The court also slapped Mathew with a fine of Rs 50 lakh and Shanti with a fine of Rs 30 lakh.

Shanti's husband Lijesh welcomed the judgment and thanked all those who worked to see that justice is delivered.

Police solved the case quickly after retrieving the messages and pictures from the mobile phones of both accused and also from Mathew's laptop.