A Kerala court on Monday sentenced to death Renjith, who was convicted last week for the sexual assault and murder of a four-year-old girl in Ernakulam in 2013.

The court also sentenced the girl’s mother Rani – who was in a relationship with Renjith – and Renjith’s friend Basil who also sexually assaulted the child, to life in jail, Malayalam daily Manorama reported.

On January 10, the court had found all three guilty of murdering the child. During the investigation, Rani had told the police they had killed her daughter as she was being a hurdle to her relationship with Renjith, the Manorama report said.

After the verdict on January 10, Renjith had attempted suicide by consuming poison in prison, The News Minute reported. Renjith’s sentencing, which was earlier scheduled on January 12, had to be postponed because of his suicide attempt.

The murder

Rani lived with her daughter in a rented house in Chottanikkara. Rani’s husband was in jail in a drug-related case, according to The News Minute.

In October 2013, Renjith raped and murdered the child when she got home from school. Rani was not at home at the time. Later, Rani, Renjith and Basil disposed the child’s body at a construction site, and Rani told the police that her daughter was missing.

During the investigation, the police found Rani’s statements kept changing. When they grilled her, she confessed to knowing about the child’s murder.