Chandrabose family insists on noose; compensation means nothing, says wife

THRISSUR: The quantum of sentence for beedi king Mohammed Nisham, found guilty of murder, will be pronounced on Thursday but the family of the slain Chandrabose declared outside the district court complex on Wednesday that they want nothing less than capital punishment for the killer.

“Compensation means nothing to us”, sobbed widow Jamanthy and mother Ambujakshi, touching the feet of advocate C P Udayabhanu.

They, accompanied by Bose’s son Amal Dev, were the first to reach the court a little after 10 am to witness the law catching up with the assassin.

City Police Commissioner K G Simon, MLAs V. S. Sunil Kumar and Babu M Palissery, CPI district secretary K.K. Valsaraj and BJP district president A Nagesh were also present.

Wearing a white shirt and jeans, a clean-shaven Nisham stepped out from the police van around 10.30 AM and was led into the courtroom, not far from where the bereaved family sat.

The judge then got into business, disposing of a few other cases. Nisham stood in an enclosure. In a terse one-liner, the judge pronounced Nisham guilty of murder.

When the judge sought his reaction, Nisham pleaded that his wife and child depended on him and that his mother had a pacemaker.

“Please, give me a lenient sentence... We live in a joint family, and I have huge responsibilities,” he muttered.

All the while the family sat bewildered, not knowing what had transpired.  Someone told Amal Dev the import of the verdict, which he conveyed to his mother and grandmother. Tears of joy rolled down their cheeks.

Mr Udayabhanu and the defence lawyer erupted into a wordy duel, with the former demanding that Nisham pay up Rs 5 crore as compensation to the family since “he has Rs 5,000 crore”.

The day’s business ended with the judge announcing that he would pronounce the sentence on Thursday.

The victim family members and relatives filed past last. It was on the night of January 29, 2015 that Nisham rammed his Hummer on Chandrabose for not opening the gates to his apartment at Puzhakkal in Thrissur.

Bose succumbed to his injuries on February 16.