Kerala hand chopping case: 13 accused held guilty

KOCHI: The NIA Court here has pronounced 13 persons guilty in the case in which the hand of T J Joseph, a professor of Newman College, Thodupuza was chopped off by a group of people for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.

Out of the 37 accused in the case, the Court acquitted 18 persons. Among the accused, five persons are still missing in the case. The NIA had nabbed 31 persons in connection with the case. The Court will pronounce the sentence in the case on May 5.

The Court upheld the slapping of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on 10 of the accused. Some of the accused were also charged under the Arms and Explosive Act.

A group of people belonging to the popular front attacked Prof. T J Joseph (now retired) as he was returning from the Church on July 4, 2010. His hand was chopped off by those who attacked him as a punishment for the alleged irreverent reference to Prophet Mohammed in a question paper that he prepared.

After the verdict, Prof T J Joseph reacted that he had already forgiven the people who had attacked him in his conscience court. He said that the Court’s verdict will not affect him anyway.