Thrissur: The

principal sessions

judge

Sophy Thomas on Tuesday sentenced a 50-year-old woman to

for drowning her four-year-old

at

near

in

.

The judge has also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on the accused

, who is the wife of late Valiparamban Veettil Vijayan of Ollur. The accused will have to undergo another two years of imprisonment if she failed to remit the fine.

Shylaja had thrown Meba, daughter of Ranjit and Nishma of Nandanam at Mattannur in Kannur, into the Manalippuzha river over ‘enmity between the convict and the family of Meba’s mother’.

On October 13, 2016, Shylaja, who is the sister of Meba’s grandfather took Meba to the banks of Manalippuzha river at Pazhayi near Pudukkad in the district and threw her into the river leading to her drowning.

Prosecutor K D Babu said enmity between Shylaja, and the family of the victim’s mother was the motive for the murder. He said the prosecution had depended on circumstantial evidences and testimonies of the witnesses for proving the role of the accused in the crime.

Both Ranjit and Nishma were in Australia during the trial period. The case also had developed an unusual dimension as the trial had to be conducted through video-conferencing. Ranjit and Nishma, who were prime witnesses in the case, were examined through video conferencing facilities with the consent from the Indian consulate at Melbourne.