the CBI Special Judge in Kochi, India, sentenced Antony alias Anthappan, to be hanged

the CBI Special Judge in Kochi, India, sentenced Antony alias Anthappan, to be hanged till death after convicting him of killing a six member family.   Describing it as the rarest of the rare cases, Special Judge B. Kemal Pasha awarded capital punishment to Antony, 38.
Apart from the charges under Sec 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the court also imposed life imprisonment under Sec 449 (house trespass in order to commit an offence punishable with death), another seven years term under Sec 380 (theft) and seven years under 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC.
The court had found Anthappan guilty in the murder of Augustine Manjooran and his family on January 6, 2001.
According to the prosecution, in order to get funds for visa expenses to go abroad for employment, the accused, who was a distant relative of the victims, broke into their house and chopped Augustine, 48, his wife Mary, 42, their children Divya, 14, Jesmon, 12, Augustine's sister Kochurani, 38, and mother Clara, 80, one by one and thereafter stole money and gold ornaments. The judgment said the circumstances warranted extreme punishment as the accused eliminated the six family members in a particularly gruesome manner.