An IT professional hailing from Kerala and her boyfriend were sentenced to over 20 years in prison by the Australian Supreme Court on June 21 for the 2015 murder of her husband.
Sofia Sam, 34, and Arun Kamalasanan, 37, were found guilty of fatally poisoning Sam Abraham with cyanide-laced orange juice at his house at Epping, Melbourne. The court heard that Kamalasanan had planned the murder for three years, and poured the juice down Abraham’s throat after sedating Sam, Abraham and her son.
Supreme Court judge Paul Coghlan sentenced Sofia Sam to 22 years’ imprisonment while Kamalasanan, who was the main accused, got a 27-year prison term. Coghlan called him the “architect and driving force” of the crime, and said he was satisfied that Sam played a part in the murder, the Australian reported. “I’m satisfied your husband could not have been murdered without your knowledge and acquiescence,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.
Abraham, 33, was found foaming at the mouth, and the cause of his death was initially thought to be a heart attack. An autopsy conducted later showed the cause of death to be cyanide poisoning. The police did not reveal the findings of the autopsy to Sam, and started keeping a watch on her and Kamalasanan when their proximity came to light.
“This is a very serious example of the crime of murder,” Coghlan said, the Age reported. “Sam Abraham was a young man asleep in bed at home with his family when he was killed by the use of poison.”
Sam and Kamalasanan were found guilty in February this year. Both of them were born in Kerala, and met at the Mahatma Gandhi University as students. While Sam moved to Australia with her six-year-old son in 2012, Abraham, an accountant, joined his family a few months later, according to the Age. Kamalasanan left his parents, wife and son behind in India and moved to Melbourne in 2013.
Sam and Kamalasanan will be jailed for at least 18 years and 23 years, respectively, before they are eligible for parole, according to the ruling.
Kamalasanan is likely to be deported from Australia when his prison term comes to an end. Sam is an Australian citizen but her immigration status will be determined at a later date, News.com.au reported.
The victim’s father Abraham Samuel, a native of Karavaloor in Kollam, said he had petitioned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj last month, seeking to bring his grandson to India, according to the Indian Express.