Pala: The police have filed a case against four people for a student's death after a hammer fell on his head during the state junior athletic meet held at Pala in Kerala's Kottayam district earlier this month.
The four are: referee of throw events Mohammed Kasim, judge T D Martin, K V Joseph and P Narayanan Kutty (both of whom were tasked with giving signals). The police have decided against making the arrest immediately.
They have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The probe team had found that accident-prone events hammer throw and javelin were conducted at the same time side by side and one contest was started even before the other had concluded, leading to the accident. The case was filed based on this conclusion.
The probe team has appraised the district police chief of their findings.
The victim, Abheel Johnson, a Plus-One student of the St Thomas Higher Secondary School in Pala, was a volunteer at the meet. While he was picking up the javelin from the ground, the hammer hit him on his head, the probe report said. Abheel, who was battling for life at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital, succumbed to the injuries on October 21.
The mishap had happened on October 4 during the 63rd Kerala State Junior Athletics Championships held at the Pala municipal stadium.
The State Athletic Association had organised the meet.
The cops have decided that more people should be named in the case only after checking the legal aspects.
Safety protocol for sports meets
Sports Minister E P Jayarajan has said that a safety protocol would be formulated for the smooth conduct of sports events, free of accidents.
The minister also said that those fests that did not follow the safety norms would not be given permission. Instructions would be given to the sports associations that only those who had expert training should be appointed as officials.
The minister said this during an event, 'Trackinoru Suraksha Rekha', organised by Malayala Manorama in the backdrop of the tragedy at state athletic meet at Pala.
Office-bearers of sports outfits, former athletes, and trainers took part in the event and submitted their suggestions to the minister.
