A bail plea moved by solar-scam accused Biju Radhakrishnan on the charge of murdering his wife Reshmi was heard by Kollam District and Sessions Court Judge Ashok Menon on Monday. After hearing Biju’s counsel, B. Haskar, and the Public Prosecutor, Sudhir Jacob, the judge posted the bail application for order to a later date.
The alleged murder was committed on the night of February 3, 2006, according to the charge sheet filed by Crime Branch (CID) Deputy Superintendent of Police C.G. Suresh Kumar who investigated the case and arrested Biju from Coimbatore on June 17. The charge is that Biju had administered poison in liquor and forced Reshmi to drink it.
When the bail plea came up for hearing, Mr. Haskar told the court that Biju has no role in Reshmi’s death. There was no evidence against him on the murder charge, he told the court.
Countering the bail, Mr. Jacob told the court that Biju had cheated Reshmi. Though she believed that he had married her, theirs was not a legal marriage. Reshmi had lodged complaints with the Kottarakara police in Kollam and the Karamana and Museum police in Thiruvananthapuram alleging threat to her life from Biju, Mr. Jacob told the court.
He said a statement had been taken from Reshmi’s elder son, who had witnessed the alleged murder of his mother as a three-and-a-half-year old boy. The boy, now 11, had said that he had seen his father forcefully making his mother consume some drink after which she fell unconscious. The boy added that his father had dragged his mother into the bathroom and locked her up. These statements were produced before the court.
The charge sheet says that autopsy report showed that every 100 gram of Reshmi’s blood contained 120 ml of ethyl alcohol. Such a quantity would enter her blood stream only if it was forcefully administered since there was no record of her being in the habit of consuming alcohol.
Reshmi was taken to the Kottarakara taluk hospital next day by Biju and his mother Rajammal along with some neighbours. When the hospital authorities told them that she was brought dead, both mother and son absconded. They went to Punalur from where the solar scam accused Saritha S. Nair joined Biju, according to the charge sheet.
