Kochi: The Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will pronounce the sentence in the Muvattupuzha hand-chopping case on May 1.

Special court judge P. Sasisdharan announced the date after the final session of hearing on Tuesday. The proceedings during the day began with the court reading out the offences against the 13 convicts and seeking their response, The Hindu reported.

The convicts pleaded leniency while delivering the sentence and leveled reasons varying from poor family background to sole breadwinner of the family.

The case pertains to the attack on T.J. Joseph, then a teacher with Newman College, Thodupuzha, by a seven-member gang alleged to be members of the Popular Front of India, on July 4, 2010.

The court had acquitted 18 others citing lack of evidence against them.

However, it upheld NIA’s decision to invoke provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The attackers waylaid the professor when he was returning along with his mother and sister after attending Sunday Mass at a local church.

As per prosecution case, the attack was carried out in retaliation to Joseph’s ‘blaspheming’ of Prophet Mohammed in a question paper he prepared for his students at Newman College at Thodupuzha, where he was teaching Malayalam. A court had later given a clean chit to the professor on the charge of hurting religious sentiments.

The convicted included five of the gang that waylaid the professor.

As per the prosecution, armed with choppers, small axe, knives and explosives the gang waylaid Joseph at 8.05 am on July 4, 2010 at Hostelpady in Muvattupuzha. When the professor tried to escape, one of the attackers cut his left leg’s ankle twice using a chopper.

Another inflicted serious cut injury on the left thigh, left foot, and left leg ankle using an axe. The gang pulled down the professor on to the road.

The court held on April 30 that the gang committed a terrorist act on the ground of religious faith and promoted disharmony among religions. They were found guilty by the court for unlawful assembly, rioting with deadly weapon, wrongful restraint, causing grievous hurt using dangerous weapons, criminal intimidation, promoting religious enmity, and attempted murder.