The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Perumbavoor on Friday remanded Ameerul Islam, the Assam native arrested for the alleged rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit woman in Kurupumpady, in judicial custody till June 30.
Considering a remand petition by the investigation team, judge V. Manju asked the accused whether he wanted legal assistance to which he replied in the affirmative.
To another query on whether he had any complaints against the police, the accused said “no”.
As Islam was reported to be conversant only in his native language, Assamese, the court used the services of a translator, identified as Lipton Das of Kolkata.
Following this, the court appointed P. Rajan as counsel of the accused and directed to shift the accused to the District Jail in Kakkanad. The offences charged against the accused were IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) and Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A battery of police personnel was deployed outside the court several hours before the accused was brought in.
The covered vehicle carrying Islam entered the court premises at 4.40 p.m. even as the hundreds of people gathered outside shouted slogans demanding “capital punishment for the killer”.
Since an identification parade was yet to be conducted, the police officers were extremely careful not to reveal Islam’s face and had made him wear a helmet.
Photographers and videographers were banned from using their cameras inside the court even as several people were seen clicking pictures of the accused on their mobile phones.
The accused, a short, lean, but well-built man, entered the court building by 4.43 p.m. and was taken into the judge’s chamber. The court proceedings were over in 15 minutes and Islam was taken to the Kakkanad jail
“The investigation team did not file custody application, but included a request to conduct an identification parade inside the jail in the presence of a magistrate. After carrying out the same, a fresh application will be filed in two or three days, seeking his custody for 15 days,” said P.M. Abdul Jaleel, Assistant Public Prosecutor.
People thronged the court premises from Friday morning onwards and waited for several hours to catch a glimpse of the accused.
Volatile crowd
Sensing the possibility that the mob could turn violent when the accused was brought in, the police evicted all except the court staff and mediapersons from the premises.
They also delayed his appearance till minutes before the court was to end proceedings for the day.
As the covered police van carrying Islam arrived at the court, people tried to breach the police barricade.
