The family of the newly married woman from North Paravur who allegedly faced domestic violence at her husband’s house at Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode is seeking legal opinion to move ahead with their request to transfer the case to the Ernakulam Rural police limits where the survivor is currently residing.
Survivor’s father said in Kochi on May 16 (Thursday) that there was no going back on the demand though the station house officer of the Pantheerankavu police station where the case had been registered was suspended from service for alleged lapses in the investigation. The probe has since been reassigned to a fresh team led by an assistant commissioner.
“There are multiple reasons for such a plea. Distance is a factor, the fact that my daughter is now staying here, and also my first experience with the Pantheerankavu police. We will officially move for transferring the case here after consulting our lawyer,” the father said.
He alleged that the police had not included the attempt to murder charge in the FIR despite the survivor’s statement that the accused had tried to strangle her using the cable of a mobile phone charger.
Sources in the Ernakulam Rural police said that the survivor could indeed demand for shifting the case to her permanent or temporary residence. But a call on that would be taken by the investigation officer concerned based on legal opinion since there were Supreme Court orders on the issue. “We were approached by the survivor’s family after an FIR had already been registered by the Pantheerankavu police. Duplication in the form of registration of a second FIR will only prove beneficial to the accused,” said sources.
Rahul P. Gopal, survivor’s husband, is the first accused in the case. He is suspected to have fled the country.
The survivor’s health, meanwhile, remains far from satisfactory. She has received counselling and is likely to be admitted in a private hospital at Kodungalloor on Friday.
Kerala State Youth Commission chairperson M. Shajar visited the survivor and her family at North Paravur on Thursday. “Since the police have already registered a case, there is nothing more the commission, which is a quasi-judicial body, can do in the matter. The visit was to pledge our support to the survivor and family in going ahead with the fight for justice,” he said.
Mr. Shajar lambasted a section of the media for airing the unverified accusations by the mother of the accused against the survivor. “The media must act responsibly in such cases as the accusations are taking a toll on the survivor and her family. It is unfortunate that a section of the media continues to act irresponsibly despite similar incidents in the past, including the Vismaya case,” he said.
