THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court has suspended the life sentence and granted an interim bail to a 45-year-old man who is accused of intentionally mowing down a 15-year-old boy with his car, resulting in his death, at Kattakada in August 2023.
The accused, Priyaranjan, was earlier sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by the additional district and sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the murder of Adi Shekhar, a Class X student.
The police finding was that Priyaranjan consciously mowed down the boy, who was riding his bicycle, out of personal vengeance as he had reprimanded the man for urinating on a temple wall. The lower court had upheld the police finding and punished the accused.
However, the Supreme Court concurred with the argument of the defence lawyer that there were critical contradictions in the trial court’s judgment. The counsel pointed out that the judgment itself said the accused lacked direct intent to kill the boy and yet it punished him for murder offence.
The SC bench led by Justice M M Sundresh, after considering the circumstances of the case, granted bail to the accused and kept the sentence in abeyance. The court directed that Priyaranjan could be granted bail till a decision is taken by the High Court on his appeal against the trial court verdict.
Adi Shekhar’s death following the accident on August 30, 2023, was initially treated as a road accident, but the parents of the boy expressed doubts and prompted the police to probe further. A witness informed the police that the boy had questioned Priyaranjan for urinating near a temple in the locality. Subsequent phone calls made by the accused further cemented the police’s doubts.
The CCTV visuals obtained from the accident spot had suggested that the boy was deliberately run over by the accused in vengeance. The visuals showed Adi Shekhar riding a bicycle with his friend in front of his house. The accused drove the car at him when the boy mounted his bicycle and rammed into him.
The boy was declared brought dead at the hospital. Priyaranjan was working in a Gulf country and had visited Kerala to celebrate Onam when the incident occurred. This prompted the police to change the section invoked against Priyaranjan from culpable homicide to murder. The accused was arrested from Tamil Nadu, where he had gone into hiding, after 12 days.
Teen was mowed down
The police finding was that Priyaranjan consciously mowed down the boy, who was riding his bicycle, out of personal vengeance as he had reprimanded the man for urinating on a temple wall. The lower court had upheld the police finding and punished the accused