Mannarkkad: A report of the Judicial Magistrate into the brutal murder of tribal youth Madhu in early 2018 states he was subject to lynching. The Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Mannarkkad in Palakkad district will examine the Judicial Magistrate who prepared the report on Wednesday.
The reports prepared by Mannarkkad First-Class Judicial Magistrate M Ramesh and Geromic George, who was the Executive Magistrate and Ottappalam Sub Collector when the crime happened, were presented before the Court on Monday. The Court has allowed examining Magistrate M Ramesh tomorrow.
The 18-page report mentions that Madhu had faced brutal assault from the mob.
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, alleging 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.
Although Madhu had died in Police custody, the report stated the Police had not tortured Madhu mentally or physically.
The report said it is clear based on the witness statements that those who forcefully brought Madhu from the wilds and those who had gathered at Mukkali tied his hands and brutally manhandled him. Madhu had 42 injuries on his body. It is surprising that the police did not take note of these wounds while taking him into custody.
The wounds marked from 1 to 29 were fresh. The report, citing the post-mortem report, said, the lesions and injuries to the internal organs including the fracture of his ribs have caused his death.
A copy of the report has been handed over to the Defence lawyer. The Defence lawyer sought time to examine the Magistrate. The prosecution demanded that the trial should be completed before the Magistrate leaves abroad on the 10th of this month. Following this, the Court has allowed examining the Magistrate tomorrow.
As part of preparing the Magisterial report, details were collected, also by visiting the cave thought to be where Madhu used to live in the forest.
The statements of 18 witnesses, including Madhu’s mother, sisters, relatives, the police officer who took him into custody from Mukkali and the Doctor who examined him, have been recorded.
Five documents were examined.
Examining Thiruvananthapuram Collector Geromic George, who was the Executive Magistrate here earlier, would be decided later.
