Mr. Shahabuddin is a man of many faces and wears many hats. When he has to kill and kidnap someone, he wears the hat of the crime boss but when he has to engage in politics, he talks about local politics. The man from Male told me that Shahebuddin had the backing of all Upper caste people beside his Muslim base. The upper caste people feared Male and turned to Mr. Shahabuddin for protection. He receives unconditional support of the Upper Caste for protecting them; and to demonstrate his gratitude, Shahabuddin had many innocent people killed who sympathized with Male.

Perhaps he was a buffer between the Upper Caste People and Male but he was a criminal first. The recent punishments meted to him by the Court are mild in comparison with his criminality.

However, something bothers me. The government is prosecuting him on each charge separately which is consuming a lot of time. Some of the cases against him are so old that finding evidence would be Herculean task for prosecutors.

I had a suggestion based American justice system. When a person is charged with multi-counts of criminal activities, the system allows combining of charges to save time and expense. Defendants still have options of separate trials but in most cases where the evidence is overwhelming, plea bargaining is very effective tool to settle the matter. Actually, prosecutors agree to dismiss some charges in exchange for pleading guilty to major charges. In such cases, defendants loose their rights of appeal. Such a plea is made with the condition that defendants understand the procedure and voluntarily give up their right of trial.

As far as Mr. Shahabuddin is concerned, would he be amiable to such arrangement? Even if he hopes to be acquitted on appeal, I would say, he would be wiser to go for plea bargaining if it were available to him considering the severity of pending charges of murder. Who knows what would happen. If found guilty, he could even face death penalty or heavier jail time.