Kottayam: The Kottayam municipal sessions court on Tuesday awarded double life imprisonment to 10 convicts in the Kevin honour killing case. This was the first conviction for an honour killing in Kerala.

On August 22, the court had convicted 10 of the 14 accused in the case and declared it as an honour killing. The convicts are relatives of the 23-year-old victim’s wife Neenu. The list of convicts includes her brother Shanu Chacko.

Also read: Kerala Dalit Christian Kevin murder case: 10 convicted for ‘honour killing’

The court began the trial of the case on April 24.

Out of the 14 accused in the case, Neenu's father Chacko was acquitted along with 3 others.

In May 2018, 23-year-old Kevin was allegedly killed by a gang of 14 people for marrying 20-year-old Neenu, who is from a wealthy family in Kerala. Kevin was in a relationship with Neenu. The latter couldn't get the approval of her parents, who were worried that their “prestige was at stake”, given his financial status.

A day after he was abducted, Kevin's body was found floating in a river on May 28. His head, eyes and internal organs were severely injured. Kevin and Neenu were married for three days and were forced to live separately.

Neenu’s parents were arrested after she complained to police that they were involved in the crime.

In May, experts of the forensic department in Kerala stated in the Kottayam principal sessions court that Kevin was forcibly drowned.  The report revealed that Kevin had a large amount of water in his lungs and there were indicators that he struggled while he was drowning.

Kevin was conscious when he fell into the water and at the time of the incident, the water in the pond was at knee level, stated the report.