Kochi Mercedes-Benz crash: Culpable homicide charge added against minor, victim's family stages protest at station

The police have added a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the 17-year-old accused in the Mercedes-Benz crash in Kochi that killed a 55-year-old scooterist on Sunday. He was initially booked under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rash driving on a public way and causing death by negligence.

Meanwhile, family members of the victim and local residents staged a protest outside the Cheranalloor police station on Sunday evening, opposing the decision to grant station bail to the minor accused.

The accident occurred around 2.20 am near the Ford showroom at Maraparambu on Container Road in Cheranalloor. The victim, Jayabalakrishnan, a native of Cheranalloor, was returning home after closing his wayside eatery near Chittoor temple when the Mercedes-Benz hit his scooter.

According to police, the teenager, the son of a court judge, had taken the car, which was registered in his father's name, without his parents' knowledge. The minor was arrested earlier on Sunday and released on bail under Section 8 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Kochi City Police Commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar told Onmanorama that the additional charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been added against the accused.

Kumar said the police were examining the technical and legal aspects of arraigning the teenager's father in the case. "The decision is likely to be arrived at tomorrow after ascertaining procedural aspects," Kumar told Onmanorama.

The victim’s family members and local residents staged a protest outside the station in the evening, opposing the decision to grant bail to the minor accused.

"They released him just hours after recording his arrest," Jayabalakrishnan's brother Selvaraj told Onmanorama. "My brother has not even been cremated, and the funeral rituals are yet to begin. But they have already let the accused go. We want justice," he added.

Selvaraj said the protesters would continue their agitation outside the police station throughout the night and block the road leading to it.

"The accused is a minor, and under the law, his father should also be named an accused. His father is the registered owner of the vehicle involved in the crash," Selvaraj said.

Police said further investigation, including the examination of witnesses and scrutiny of available CCTV footage, was underway to establish the circumstances of the accident.

The incident comes less than two weeks after a fatal crash involving a Mini Cooper on October 11 on the Airport–Athani road near Nedumbassery in Kochi. The car, driven by 19-year-old Suhail Sajeev, collided with a scooter carrying Eyas, Gopika and Devika around 1.41 am, killing all three.