Kottayam: All 14 persons accused of chasing to death Kevin P Joseph near Thenmala in May have been charged with murder. The accused, including the father-in-law and brother-in-law of the victim, face 10 charges including conspiracy.
The first accused, Sanu Chacko, targeted Joseph for marrying his sister against the family’s wishes. His father Chacko is the fifth accused. The Chackos and four others are still in remand. The other accused have been let out on bail.
The Kottayam additional sessions court threw out the defence argument that Joseph had drowned, not murdered. The charge sheet clearly describes the attack as “honour killing”.
Joseph was kidnapped from his house in Kottayam on May 26. He was later found dead in a rivulet near Thenmala in Kollam.
The court is scheduled to hear the case on March 20, when the date for the trial will be decided.
The prosecution based its case on an array of evidence including the post-mortem report that proved that Joseph had drowned, a finding which was backed by a top medical board.
Joseph’s friend, Anish, who was also kidnapped by the Chackos and gang, is a crucial witness in the case. So is Neenu, the wife of Joseph. The police also obtained the recording of a phone call between the first accused and police officers in Gandhi Nagar in Kottayam, who were supposed to look into the man-missing complaint.
The topography of the place where Joseph was found dead also added to the prosecution case.
The car the kidnappers were travelling on the fateful day was singled out by surveillance cameras put up by the motor vehicles department to detect vehicles that breached the speed limit on the highway. The car was spotted going towards Gandhi Nagar at Kodimatha at 1.36 am and 2.30 am on its way back to Thenmala, about 100 kilometres away.
Also important are the testimonies of two police officers who have faced disciplinary actions for their involvement in the case. The assistant sub inspector of Gandhi Nagar, T M Biju, and the police driver, Ajaya Kumar, are the 10th and 45th witnesses in the cases, respectively. Both of them have been accused of taking bribes from the accused.
Biju is likely to lose his job and Ajay Kumar might see his employment benefits withheld.
The court will examine 176 witnesses and 170 documentary evidences during the trial.
