A court in Kerala found two IT professionals guilty of a double-murder that shook state two years ago. Nino Mathew, 42, and Anu Shanthi, 34, colleagues at an IT firm here have been found guilty of conspiring and murdering Shanthi’s daughter Swastika, 4, and mother-in-law Omana, 57. The duo carried out the crime so that they could live together.
Shanthi’s husband Lijeesh, 38, an engineer working with the state power board, survived an attempt on his life and narrated the incident to the police.
The prosecution argued that the two deserved capital punishment for their heinous crime.
Shanthi pleaded with the judge not to “sentence” her as the killer of her daughter. Mathew pleaded innocence and asked the court for mercy as he had a daughter, the same age as that of Swastika, and aged parents who depend on him.
Police claimed Shanthi guided Mathew on WhatsApp to her home and provided sketches of the house and escape routes. The police also submitted in court digital evidence gathered from the phones of the convicts to prove their affair and murder plot.
The court will decide on the quantum of punishment on Monday. The court was convinced that it was a well-planned murder.
Mathew came to Shanthi’s house at Attingal town, 28km from here, at 11am on April 16, 2014, on the pretext of inviting her for a marriage. He introduced himself to Omana as her son’s friend.
Mathew then asked Omana to call Lijeesh from work and after she had done so he stabbed her and Swastika to death. When Lijeesh arrived, Mathew attacked him too, but he escaped with stab wounds and alerted the police.
Shanthi, for her part, stayed at office while the crime took place. The duo planned to make the murders look like a burglary attempt gone wrong. Mathew even took away ornaments from the home of his victims. However, the plan backfired after Lijeesh survived the attack.
Mathew’s relationship with his wife allegedly soured after she learnt about his affair with his colleague. They had been living on different floors of a house and were not on talking terms.
“I hope they get the maximum punishment,” said Lijeesh, who initially told court he did not believe his wife’s involvement in the double-murder. He later clarified he had not wanted to reveal their extramarital affair for fear of stigma on his family, though he was convinced of her role as she did not turn up to identify the bodies.
He claimed she had been behaving indifferently with him and other family members for three months before the killings. Lijeesh said he had also seen Mathew’s messages on her mobile, which he discussed with her father as well.