Kottayam: In a surprising revelation a witness in the sensational Kevin Joseph murder case said he was assaulted by two accused in their bid to force him to change his statement in court. The allegation was made by Rajesh, witness number 37, who was reportedly on his way to Kottayam to depose during the ongoing trial.
Manu Muraleedharan and Shinu Nasser, the sixth and thirteenth accused in the case, attacked me in Punalur on Sunday, said Rajesh in a statement.
The witness was en route to Kottayam from Punalur for providing his statement in court when the alleged attack happened.
The Punalur police has registered an FIR on the incident which took place near Punalur market.
The accused have been trying to influence witnesses since the beginning of the Kevin trial in February 2019. Five witnesses -Sulaiman, Alan, Suneesh, Muneer and Ebin (Umesh)- had turned hostile during the trial.
Rajesh also added that accused no 11 Fazal had informed him that they had kidnapped Kevin and Anish. He also identified Vishnu, Shanu, Nishad, Titu, Ramiz, Shinu, Shefin and Fazal among the accused.
The prosecution argued that the accused had admitted the crime to their friends after the murder.
Kevin P Joseph, a 23-year-old Dalit Christian youth, was brutally killed on May 27, 2018 by a gang led by Sanu, the eldest brother of his fiancee. He had earned the wrath of his fiance Neenu's family for going ahead with plans to marry her despite the objection posed by her parents and brother.
The Kevin murder trial which began in February is expected to be completed in six months as it comes under the category of honor killing.
