Attingal twin murder: Verdict on March 31

Thiruvananthapuram: The trial of accused in the sensational Attingal twin murder case came to a close here on Wednesday. District sessions judge V Shircy has scheduled the case on March 31 for pronouncing verdict.
The two defence counsels, representing the two accused, presented their arguments as part of the final hearing. Advocate Sasthamangalam Ajith Kumar, the counsel of first accused Nino Mathew argued that the police had framed the murder charges on his client.They planted a machete, a bat and the ornaments of victims Omana and Swastika in Nino Mathew's bag to indict him in the case.
Advocate Murukkumpuzha Vijayakumar, the counsel of the second accused Anu Santhi, also argued that the police cooked up the story of her desire to live with Nino Mathew as a motive to establish her role in the crime. Anu Santhi abstained from visiting her injured husband in the hospital and the bodies of her daughter and mother-in-law because she chose to wait for her father to come and pick her up from her residence, he argued.
Vijayakumar also argued that it was not for aiding Nino Mathew in the crime she clicked the pictures of interiors of her husband's house and its surroundings.
The crime related to the case occurred on April 16, 2014. The prosecution case is that Nino Mathew visited Anu Santhi's husband Lijeesh's house at Mamam near Attingal, posing as the latter's friend and succeeded in killing Lijeesh's mother Omana, 60, and his daughter Swastika, 3. Though he also attacked Lijeesh, he managed to flee from the assailant. Nino Mathew stole the gold ornaments of the victims to portray it as a crime committed by a robber.
The police found out that Nino Mathew and Anu Santhi, who worked in a firm in Technopark, were in an extramarital relationship and the murders were their idea of eliminating obstacles in their way to start a new life together.
The trial of the accused in the case commenced on October 12, 2015. The prosecution examined 49 witnesses, 85 documents and 41 material objects as evidences in the case.