Alappuzha: An Additional Sessions Court in Mavelikkara on Tuesday acquitted all 19 accused in the 2012 Vishal murder case. However, the prosecution has decided to move to the High Court, challenging the verdict. Vishal, a 19-year-old first-year degree student at the NSS College in Konni, was stabbed to death in 2012. 

The accused were all Campus Front activists. Expressing her disappointment with the verdict, the special public prosecutor told the media that the court found the evidence submitted insufficient to prove guilt. When asked whether the SFI workers' change in stance contributed to the acquittal, she responded that it may have partially contributed. She also struck down the allegations that the prosecution failed to present adequate evidence and that the FIR was weak, finding them false.

Advocate Priyadarshan Thambi, the defence lawyer who appeared for accused 1 to 5, argued that the case was "fabricated" as only one person had stabbed the individual leading to his death, and stated that the remaining accused were rightfully acquitted. "They did not do anything. They did not even carry any weapons," he said.

Meanwhile, the ABVP alleged that leaders of the SFI and the KSU attempted to sabotage the case, claiming this was why witnesses affiliated with both organisations later changed their statements in court. Speaking to the media outside the court, ABVP state president Easwara Prasad said the organisation had decided to approach a higher court against the verdict and would continue its legal battle until all the accused are punished. He also said the ABVP would expose those who, according to him, worked to undermine the case.

Prasad further alleged serious lapses by the police from the very beginning of the investigation, including delays in arresting the accused. “It took several months for the police even to arrest the prime accused,” he said. He also accused successive state governments of failing to give due importance to the case, noting that the victim was a college student. “These failures forced the ABVP to approach even the Supreme Court, seeking the appointment of a special public prosecutor,” Prasad added.

The incident took place on July 16, 2012, at the Christian College in Chengannur, Alappuzha, where Vishal, an ABVP member, was attending an event welcoming freshers. The members of the Campus Front allegedly attacked him along with his friends. He was stabbed, while two others who were with him were gravely injured, and others were physically attacked. Following the incident, he was admitted to the Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, but succumbed to his injuries the next day.

The case, initially handled by the local police, was later handed over to the crime branch. However, all the accused, including Nazim, Shafeeq, Faizal, Asif, Sanooj, Al Thaj, Safeer and Afsal, were out on bail when the verdict was announced after 13 years on Tuesday.