Southern States - Kerala   

Victimised by police, youth finds life a nightmare

By A. Harikumar

ALAPPUZHA JUNE 27. The story of his life appears like the real version of one of the novels of Franz Kafka.

A casual labourer, he led a normal life. One fateful day, he was made the main accused in a murder case. The metamorphosis from a gentleman to an accused in a murder case was sudden and it had a devastating effect on his life.

``Every moment of existence became a painful struggle for me from the day when the Mararikkulam police wrongly named me as the first accused in a murder case,'' said Suresh, Veliyil House, Valavanad here.

``Of course, friends and members of the family extended a helping hand at first,'' Suresh said. But soon, one by one, they backed out leaving Suresh to fight for justice alone. The authorities concerned, including the State and National Human Rights Commissions failed to provide succour to Suresh so far. But he is still continuing his fight for justice though without any tangible result.

Recounting his traumatic experiences, Suresh said the murder that cast a shadow on his life took place at Valavanad temple, near Alappuzha on March 3, 1999. It was the day of the temple festival. Almost the whole village had assembled there to watch the Padayani festival.

Suddenly a fight broke out between a youth Binu, alias Akkara, and another group of youths. Both were drunk. In the melee, Binu was knifed. He, later, succumbed to his injuries at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital. Suresh says he was not connected with the murder in anyway. The next day, Suresh was surprised to find that he had been named the first accused in a case registered by the Mararikkulam police in connection with the murder.

Suresh noted that of the seven accused in the case many were arbitrarily named. The accused do not even knew each other earlier, Suresh said. He was arrested but was later released on bail. ``But, the real culprits were roaming scot-free,'' he said.

Suresh said the police named him the first accused to save the real culprit who had connections with the investigating officer of the local police. In the meantime, the public and social workers in the area raised their voice against the arbitrary approach of the police. The parents of the killed person informed the police that Suresh was not involved in the murder. But the police did not show any inclination to bring out the truth, Suresh said.

Feeling that it was difficult to get justice from local police, Suresh approached the Kerala High Court. The local people also approached the Kerala High Court on behalf of Suresh. In response to the appeal, the court directed the DGP to order reinvestigation, if the investigation by the local police was not satisfactory.

The DGP ordered reinvestigation by the crime branch. The relatives of the murdered person and other witnesses testified before the crime branch said that Suresh was not the real murderer. ``Notwithstanding all these, the crime branch too seems not particular to bring out the truth,'' Suresh says. He points out that even after four years, the crime branch had not completed the investigation or submitted the chargesheet in the court.

In the meantime, one of the accused committed suicide out of desperation. Suresh noted that though he had submitted memoranda to the State Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Commission, justice was being delayed to him. According to Suresh, the reason for the delay is that the truth would hurt the local investigating officer who named him the accused for dubious reasons.

The SHRC member, Balaraman, said that the commission would formally announce the findings of its investigation in a month. According to him, prima facie there is some truth in Suresh's argument.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Mining rights: `a fit case for judicial probe'
• No let-up in tension at Marad
• Unaided schools to be brought under new legislation
• Govt. to bring in law on fee structure
• Victimised by police, youth finds life a nightmare
• Police now under pressure from middlemen: Sudheeran
• Making a mockery of Vigilance report?
• Schemes for Kochi airport approved
• Board to assess police performance mooted

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu