KOTTAYAM: The Additional Sessions Court -IV, Kottayam, which is considering the abduction and death of Kevin P Joseph, decided to slap the charges under IPC Section 302 (murder) against the accused in the case.
With murder charge found prima facie by the court, the trial in the case will be conducted as per the procedure of honour killing. The final trial has to be completed within six months as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
The additional session judge K G Sanal Kumar posted the case to March 20 for scheduling of the final trial. It is expected to begin by April first week as the court has completed the slapping of charges against all the 14 persons accused in the case. During the preliminary hearing, prosecution lawyer C S Ajayan had pointed out the possibility of an accidental drowning could be ruled out as there was little chance for the victim, who knew swimming, to drown in waist-deep water in the stream.
Instead, there was strong circumstantial evidence for homicidal drowning, as supported by the opinion of the forensic team of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. As per prosecution case, a gang led by Syanu Chacko, brother of Kevin’s fiancee Neenu Chacko, abducted Kevin from his rental residence at Gandhi Nagar to Thenmala on the night of May 27, 2018, and chased him to a stream in Chaliyakkara near Thenmala with the intention to kill him.
The prosecution also produced 180 documents, 176 witnesses, DNA test results, records of phone calls made by the accused and three vehicles as evidence in the case.
Sections slapped
The court found enough evidence to slap charges of murder against the accused. As per this, the sections charged against the accused are IPC 120 B, 34, 449, 427, 506(2), 323, 342, 364, 364 A and 302.