KOTTAYAM: In a major development in the ongoing Kevin murder trial, forensic experts said the Dalit youth died due to homicidal drowning. Deposing before the Principal Sessions Court, Kottayam, experts said the quantity of water recovered from Kevin’s chest cavity points to the fact that he was conscious at the time of the drowning. Hence the possibilities of accidental or suicidal drowning can be ruled out, they said.
The deposition came when the court examined Dr V M Rajeev and Santhosh Joy of Government Medical College, Kottayam, who conducted the post-mortem examination, and Dr K Sasikala, the head of the department of Forensic Medicine at Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, who headed the expert team constituted to scientifically examine the situation in which Kevin died.
Rajeev and Santhosh deposed before the court that the injuries sustained by Kevin were simple in nature. There were no serious injuries either on his head or any part of the body. According to them, Kevin’s right chest cavity contained 170 ml of blood-stained fluid and right side contained 150 ml of fluid. “This showed Kevin was conscious at the time of immersion. As per the video recordings, there was only waist-level water in the stream at the time of the accident. There is little chance that an able-bodied man like Kevin would accidentally drown in shallow water,” they said.
Dr Sasikala, who visited the spot where the body was recovered, also said Kevin’s death was homicidal in nature. She ruled out the possibility of a direct fall into the stream considering the presence of a sloppy rocky land leading to the stream. Taking into account the water level of the stream, she dismissed the chances of accidental or suicidal drowning.
A video footage on the recovery of Kevin’s body was also played out in the court, which clearly showed that the water level was only waist deep. Earlier, Kevin’s father Joseph told that court that Kevin was an expert swimmer and hence, he could not have drowned accidentally in the stream. The court also examined Mini, a scientific officer at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Thiruvananthapuram.
Scientific proof
Experts said the quantity of water recovered from Kevin’s chest cavity points to the fact that he was conscious at the time of drowning. Hence the possibilities of accidental or suicidal drowning can be ruled out, they said.