The Kerala High Court on Wednesday closed a petition filed by Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran, a government pleader at the High Court, seeking to quash a molestation case registered against him.
Justice Sunil Thomas passed the order in view of the police filing the final report before the magistrate court concerned. The court, however, reserved the right of the petitioner to seek appropriate reliefs.
The prosecution opposed the plea of the petitioner to quash the case against him. The government counsel submitted that the police had already recorded the statements of 35 witnesses. Their statements revealed that he had committed the crime. The government counsel said that the investigation had been done by Ernakulum Rural Women Cell sub-inspector Radhamani.
Says he was framedAccording to the petition by Mr. Manjooran, he had been framed in the case by the police. As per the complaint of the woman, he had outraged her modesty while she was returning home after work at a shop.
The petitioner contended that the incident, as reported in the media, did not take place.
According to him, when the victim cried aloud that somebody had attempted to snatch her chain, the petitioner, who was standing near his car, ran towards her and she mistakenly identified the petitioner as the chain snatcher.
He said the complainant had given a sworn affidavit in the magistrate court concerned that it was a case of mistaken identity.
However, the police threatened her and took her to the magistrate court and recorded her statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) to sabotage the affidavit.
According to the police, the woman later gave a statement before the magistrate that she was misled by the father of the accused and his friends into giving an affidavit stating that she had identified the wrong person.
