Madhu case trial: Changed statement fearing accused, hostile witness tells court

Madhu
Madhu. File photo: Manorama

In a morale booster to the prosecution in the Attappady Madhu lynching case, a witness who had earlier turned hostile, reiterated his original statement during trial on Thursday.

Kakki, the 19th witness in the case, told the Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Mannarkkad that he turned hostile earlier fearing revenge from the accused. He apologised to the trial court and said he stood with his original statement given to the police in favour of the prosecution.

Kakki was a temporary watcher with the forest department and he was sacked from the job after he turned hostile. His original statement to the police was that he had seen a group of people taking Madhu out of the forest from where he was captured allegedly by the accused on charges of theft. However, during the trial, he told the court that he was not sure if it was Madhu.

Kakki's repentance has come as a huge morale booster for the prosecution as the trial has witnessed many witnesses turning hostile. So far, 27 prosecution witnesses have turned hostile leaving questions over the fate of the case.

Special Court Judge K M Ratheesh Kumar allowed the retrial of Kakki and 18th accused Kali Mooppan as requested by the prosecution. The prosecution hopes that Kakki's retraction would prompt more witnesses who have turned hostile to change their minds. Special public prosecutor Rajesh Menon and Madhu's family have been alleging that the witnesses were being influenced by the accused through money and muscle power.

Madhu, a tribal youth from Chindakki hamlet near Mukkali in Attappady, was captured from a cave in the forest and beaten up by a group of men on charges of alleged theft on February 22, 2018. They handed him over to the police, but Madhu died on the way to the hospital. The cause of the death was internal injuries he suffered from the beating.

Police arrested the accused two days after the incident following an uproar over Madhu’s death. Photographs and videos of the tribal youth in the custody of a group of people were widely circulated on social media.

All the 16 accused, however, secured conditional bails from the High Court on May 30, 2018. The trial court in August cancelled the bail of 12 accused to prevent them from influencing the witnesses. The Kerala High Court upheld the decision to cancel the bail of 11 of the accused while setting aside the order on one of the accused.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.