deepak pace
DJ_DEE
An Indian national has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of the murder of a fellow student from Andhra Pradesh in Birmingham.
The accused Nagaraja Kumar Nalluri was found critically injured in a private accommodation where Vijaywada-born Samrajya Jyothirmai Vempala, 23, died after sustaining severe head injuries on May 6 in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham.
Nalluri was sentenced by the Birmingham Crown Court to life imprisonment and as per the order, he must serve a minimum of 25 years before being considered for parole.
Nalluri, 25, who denied murdering Jyothirmai, had claimed that a masked intruder had forced his way into the house and attacked two of them, according to a report in the Birmingham
Evening Mail.
Judge Melbourne Inman said: "On the evidence before the jury you struck her at least 12 times to the head. Undoubtedly many more blows were struck against her."
Nalluri took a photo of the victim when she was either dead or dying as well as carrying out a sexual assault on her, the judge said adding that the sexual assault increased the depravity of the killing.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows said both the 23-year-old victim and the defendant had trained together in India before coming to the UK in September 2007 for Masters Degree in health studies at the Wolverhampton University.
They shared a house with other doctors in Montague Road, Handsworth, he said adding it was probably a case that although the defendant loved Jyothirmai but she did not reciprocate his feelings.
Burrows said on May six Nalloori had taken some dumbbells to the victim's room before striking her on the head.
The prosecutor said the accused also used a knife to cut his wrists and neck and wrote in blood on the wall "I love Jyothi". He said that attempts of rape were also made before the gruesome murder.
However, defence lawyer James Burbidge said Nalluri had an emotional breakdown and that there had not been premeditation of any significance.
The university had condoled Jyothirmai's death in May. In a statement, it said: "Feedback from fellow students and tutors indicate that she (Jyothirmai) was a very bright and enthusiastic student".
The accused Nagaraja Kumar Nalluri was found critically injured in a private accommodation where Vijaywada-born Samrajya Jyothirmai Vempala, 23, died after sustaining severe head injuries on May 6 in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham.
Nalluri was sentenced by the Birmingham Crown Court to life imprisonment and as per the order, he must serve a minimum of 25 years before being considered for parole.
Nalluri, 25, who denied murdering Jyothirmai, had claimed that a masked intruder had forced his way into the house and attacked two of them, according to a report in the Birmingham
Evening Mail.
Judge Melbourne Inman said: "On the evidence before the jury you struck her at least 12 times to the head. Undoubtedly many more blows were struck against her."
Nalluri took a photo of the victim when she was either dead or dying as well as carrying out a sexual assault on her, the judge said adding that the sexual assault increased the depravity of the killing.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows said both the 23-year-old victim and the defendant had trained together in India before coming to the UK in September 2007 for Masters Degree in health studies at the Wolverhampton University.
They shared a house with other doctors in Montague Road, Handsworth, he said adding it was probably a case that although the defendant loved Jyothirmai but she did not reciprocate his feelings.
Burrows said on May six Nalloori had taken some dumbbells to the victim's room before striking her on the head.
The prosecutor said the accused also used a knife to cut his wrists and neck and wrote in blood on the wall "I love Jyothi". He said that attempts of rape were also made before the gruesome murder.
However, defence lawyer James Burbidge said Nalluri had an emotional breakdown and that there had not been premeditation of any significance.
The university had condoled Jyothirmai's death in May. In a statement, it said: "Feedback from fellow students and tutors indicate that she (Jyothirmai) was a very bright and enthusiastic student".
