Thiruvananthapuram:  In the sensational Kaniyammal murder case a Thiruvananthapuram judicial court has found the husband of the deceased guilty of murder.  After completing the trail proceedings, on Tuesday Sixth Additional Sessions Judge K. Vishnu declared Mariyappan (42), guilty of murdering his wife Kaniyammal (38), a native of Thoothukudi

The trial of the case was completed in just 24 days. According to the prosecution charges Mariappan killed his wife Kaniyammal suspecting adultery. Further arguments on quantum of sentence will be on August 25.

The victim was found murdered on September 23, 2018. On the night of the incident, Kaniammal and Mariyappan had gone for a movie at a nearby theater in the city. After returning from the movie Mariappan got into a fight with his wife Kaniyammal  for smiling at an acquaintance while in the theater. In a fit of rage he smashed Kaniyammal’s skull with a hammer and then hacked her to death.

After committing the crime Mariappan fled to Tamil Nadu and on the third day Fort police apprehended him from Tirunelvesali. Manikandan and Ganesan, the sons of couple were crucial witnesses in the case. Both of them gave a statement against their father in the court. Manikandan, a pizza delivery man, when returned home at about 11.30 in the night found his mother’s dead body lying in a pool of blood.

In the absence of eyewitnesses, the prosecution relied on circumstantial and scientific evidences. Public Prosecutor M. Salahuddin and his team appeared in the court for the prosecution. The prosecution examined 27 witnesses and produced 41 documents and 25 materials relating the crime before the court.