What is Jisha rape and murder case?

As gory details of the torture that Jisha was subjected to emerged, there was massive outrage among Kerala’s citizens who took to streets in several places. Parallels were drawn with the brutal rape and murder case that took place on December 16, 2012. The case also rocked the Kerala legislative assembly.

Ammerul Islam was arrested a month-and-a-half later. Following a lengthy probe, the investigating team of officials submitted a 1,500-page chargesheet on September 17, 2016 naming Islam as lone accused.

The trial began earlier this year on April 4. In hearings that stretched through 85 days, 195 witnesses were presented by the prosecution as well as 290 pieces of documentary evidence and 36 pieces of material evidence, including DNA analysis report, were produced against Islam.

The prosecution presented strong forensic and scientific evidence against Islam. The defence had, meanwhile, petitioned that Islam was being framed citing a vigilance commission report saying 16 lapses in the probe of the rape and murder.

Prior to Islam’s arrest, the team had hit a series dead ends, detained seven men and  circulated sketches. Several changes were also made in teams probing the case. One of the men who was named in the initial stages of the probe, Sabu, 37, committed suicide this year in July. Another man whose sketch was circulated by the police saw his picture go viral on social media and almost lost his job.

The incident had occurred just before the Kerala Assembly elections in May last year and it became a major issue during the polls. The UDF government drew huge flak and after the LDF government came to power, a fresh probe was initiated