The final hearing in the Kevin murder case at the Principal Sessions court, Kottayam, is set to enter the next phase with the prosecution on Monday concluding its response to the arguments raised by the accused. The court is slated to decide on the next stage of hearing on Tuesday.
Replying to an argument by the accused’s counsel that IPC 364 A was not maintainable in the case, special prosecutor C.S. Ajayan said a full bench of the Supreme Court in 2015 had observed that the section was applicable to private individuals and ordinary crimes, especially in situations of aggravated abductions.
Scope of conspiracy
The prosecution took a strong exception to the argument that the accused had planned to abduct Neenu Chacko and hence Kevin’s abduction was beyond the scope of conspiracy. It cited that Neenu’s brother Syanu had never been in the forefront of the kidnap operation and instead sent hired goons to the place where the victim had stayed. Further, a verification of the call records suggested that Syanu, the first accused, had constantly interacted with the abduction team.
The accused had a clear understanding that abduction of Neenu was not practical and hence they planned to abduct Kevin and blackmail or finish him to get her back, he argued.
To a question on whether the youth’s death was due to accidental or homicidal drowning, the prosecution stated that the medical team had confirmed homicidal drowning.
As per their finding, Kevin was conscious while he was drowned.
“For the last four months, I am hounded by the unemotional face of Rajan who is grief stricken and devastated because he has lost his only son,” said the special prosecutor, in his concluding remark.
Prosecution case
As per the prosecution case, a gang led by Syanu abducted Kevin from his rental residence at Gandhi Nagar to Thenmala and drowned him in a stream at Chaliyakkara, near Thenmala, on May 28, 2018. There are 14 accused in the case. The trial began on April 24 with the examination of 113 out of the 186 witnesses.
