Thiruvananthapuram: A Kerala court on Monday handed down a death sentence to a 61-year-old man in connection with the high-profile 2025 Nenmara double murder case. Palakkad Additional Sessions Judge Kenneth George ordered the execution of the convict, identified as Chenthamara, and imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh. The severe penalty was handed down for the brutal murder of his neighbour, Sudhakaran, and Sudhakaran’s elderly mother, Lakshmi, at Pothundi near Nenmara on January 27, 2025.
The court convicted Chenthamara under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder, along with Section 126(2) for wrongful restraint. In delivering the verdict, the judge observed that the case firmly fell into the “rarest of rare” category, noting that the convict had deliberately wiped out multiple generations of the same family. The prosecution successfully proved the case after examining 81 witnesses and presenting 28 material objects before the court during the trial.
The double murder followed a dark history of local hostility. Chenthamara had been previously arrested for the 2019 murder of Sudhakaran’s wife, Sajitha, whom he reportedly blamed for his own marital discord. For that initial crime, a court had already sentenced him to double life imprisonment. However, the double murder transpired immediately after he secured bail in January 2025 for the initial case, prompting him to target the remaining members of Sudhakaran’s family.
Following the killings of Sudhakaran and Lakshmi, local police launched a massive manhunt and apprehended Chenthamara shortly afterward. He was subsequently lodged in the Malampuzha sub-jail during the judicial proceedings. The swift trial and ultimate capital punishment close a grim chapter of vengeance that had gripped the local community for years.
