Kerala: Man gets life for killing tea stall owner over Rs 200 bill

Kollam(Kerala), Jan 31 (PTI) A court in Kerala on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment a man who stabbed to death a tea stall owner in 2017 after the victim demanded payment, of around Rs 200, for the tea consumed by the accused from the shop on several occasions.

Kollam 1st Additional District Sessions Judge P N Vinod sentenced to life Varghese, a rubber tapper by profession, and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him, public prosecutor Sicin G Mundakkal said.

The prosecutor said that Varghese, a native of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, was in Kerala to work as a rubber tapper and used to have tea from the shop of the victim - Sudheer.

The accused had accumulated a tab of Rs 200 over a period of time and Sudheer on December 27, 2017 had demanded that he clear it.

Varghese ignored the demand for payment and walked home, and when Sudheer followed him there, the accused stabbed him in the stomach, the prosecutor said.

The accused's neighbour saw Sudheer running out screaming that he was stabbed by Varghese, the prosecutor said.

Before he died, Sudheer told his sister and two others that he was stabbed by Varghese and his statement was treated as a dying declaration by the court.

It was instrumental in the conviction of the accused, the prosecutor said. PTI