The Judicial Magistrate Court at Maradu on Tuesday remanded Cronin Alexander Baby, accused of abetting the suicide of Mishel Shaji Varghese, an 18-year-old CA student, in judicial custody till March 28. Cronin submitted before the magistrate that he was innocent and had known Mishel for over two years. He also filed a bail application in the court, which may be considered on Wednesday.
“Both our families knew about our friendship and we never had any major issues between us. When I spoke to her last time, Mishel told me that she was going to church and soon she switched off her mobile phone,” he told the media, while being produced in the court.
Meanwhile, a senior officer with the city police said the case would be handed over to a Crime Branch team headed by Additional Director General of Police Nitin Agarwal on Wednesday.
The police said Cronin used to threaten Mishel against her withdrawing from the relationship and had called her multiple times on the day she disappeared. The police also recorded the statement of one of Mishel’s friends about Cronin behaving in a harsh manner with the deceased.
Amal Wilfred, a native of Vypeen, has given a statement to the police that he saw a girl near the second Goshree bridge around 7 p.m. on March 5 but could not confirm the identity of the girl. Mishel’s family, however, rejected the police version of her committing suicide following her troubled relationship with Cronin. “She was studious and ambitious and we don’t believe she would take the extreme step over such a reason. She seemed to be normal when she last called home,” said Shaji Varghese, her father.
He also refuted reports that Cronin was a distant relative and said Mishel had never complained about him before. Mr.Shaji is slated to meet the Crime Branch team on Tuesday and plans to meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
The deceased, a native of Elanji at Piravom, was staying at a hostel near Kacheripady. She left the hostel on March 5 evening to visit the Novena church at Kaloor and the police recovered her body from the Kochi backwaters near the Ernakulam wharf around 8.45 p.m. the next day.
Hartal peaceful
A hartal organised by a combine of political parties at Piravom against the alleged police laxity in the case passed off peacefully on Tuesday. Shops and commercial establishments remained closed as part of the dawn-to-dusk hartal.
