Mohammad Faizal, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party who has been serving as the Union Territory’s representative in Parliament since 2014, was given a 10-year prison term on Wednesday by a court in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, in a case involving a 2009 attempt to murder.
After finding four of the 23 accused guilty in the case, the court suspended the bail for Faizal and three other accused. For assaulting his relative Mohammad Salih, Faizal was found guilty.
The prosecution claimed that Faizal was the leader of a group who attacked Salih and seriously injured him as a result of a disagreement over the building of a shed. Salih was transferred to Kerala, where he spent months in the hospital.
Faizal was planning to appeal the conviction to the Kerala high court, which has jurisdiction over Lakshadweep, in order to keep his status as a lawmaker.
Faizal was non-responsive right away.
