Mangaluru: A BBM student who brutally murdered an elderly person over a trivial issue a year ago was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Principal District and Sessions Court on Tuesday, October 23.

The convicted has been identified as Chandrashekhar (23), a resident of Santhekatte in Beltangady and the victim is Thimmappa Poojary, who was a neighbour of the accused. According to the charge sheet filed at the district court, Chandrashekhar, a first year BBM student in Beltangady College was taking care of street dogs and rearing a puppy and kitten in his house. There was a conflict between Chandrashekhar and victim Thimmappa Poojary as the Chandrashekhar’s puppy and kitten used to go to the house of Thimmappa Poojary, to which he was objecting.

As Poojary’s kids demanded ice-cream on January 2, 2017, he was on his way to the ice-cream shop at Santhekatte. Meanwhile, Chandrashekhar waylaid Poojary and assaulted him with a sword and killed him on the spot. Beltangady Police arrested the accused under IPC Section 302 (Punishment for murder) and 506 (punishment for the criminal intimidation).

When the case came for hearing at the Principal District and Sessions Court, Judge Kadluru Sathyanarayana Acharya upheld the arguments of special public prosecutor Purhparaj Adyanthaya and convicted the accused to life imprisonment and slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000. If the accused unable to pay the penalty amount, he should undergo an additional six months of imprisonment. Under IPC Section 506, the accused should undergo 5 years of rigorous imprisonment and pay a penalty of Rs 5000. If he is unable to pay the penalty amount, he should undergo an additional three months of imprisonment. The judge also ruled that the family of the victim is eligible to receive compensation from the District Legal Services Authority.