KOTTAYAM: The Principal Sessions Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to two of the accused in Kevin murder case following the physical assault inflicted on one of the witnesses. Following cancellation of bail, Manu Muraleedharan and Shinu Nasar, sixth and thirteenth accused respectively, were remanded to custody till the completion of the on-going trial.
District Principal Sessions judge C Jayachandran cancelled the bail of the accused following a statement made by the 37th witness, Rajesh Kariath Madhavan, in court that he was assaulted by the accused near Punalur market, while he was about to leave for Kottayam to appear before the court on Monday. The Sessions judge found the accused in violation of bail conditions and intimidation of a witness.
While deposing before the judge, Rajesh made an extrajudicial confession that Fazal Sherif and Remees, accused in the case, told him about kidnapping two youths from Kottayam after demolishing the house of one of them. The incident took place two days after the abduction of Kevin and Aneesh, one of his cousins.
Rajesh is a friend of Fazal, Shinu and Shefin, another accused in the case. Fazal came to meet Rajesh and told him about the kidnapping incident, while the former was hiding from police. Rajesh had earlier told about this to police, when Manu and Shinu assaulted him to change his statement. Rajesh identified the accused Vishnu, Shanu, Nishad, Tittu, Ramees, Shinu, Shefin, and Fazal.
During the day, the court also examined the tahsildar, who issued a caste certificate to Kevin. The tahsildar’s submission that Kevin had converted to Christianity from scheduled caste, is expected to strengthen the prosecution’s claim that it was a case of honour killing. Meanwhile, the court on Tuesday is slated to examine some natives of Chaliyekkara in Kollam, who are associated with the respondents.