Exactly two years after the country was shaken by the barbaric abduction-cum-murder of two school going siblings – Muskan (10) and Rithik (7) – in Coimbatore, the Mahila Court judge M P Subramaniam is set to deliver the judgment against the lone surviving accused in the case on Monday. Lawyers say that this is the most keenly anticipated judgment in Coimbatore after the serial bomb blast case verdict delivered in October 2007.
The prime accused R Mohana Krishnan, a school van driver, was shot dead in a police encounter soon after the crime. His accomplice Manoharan has stood trial.
Lawyers say that the case heavily relies on circumstantial evidences. The prosecution has built its case based on the deposition of 120 witnesses, a few material evidence and autopsy report of the victims. As per this, the children were abducted at 7.50 am, murdered around 3.30 pm and the main accused Mohana Krishnan was arrested at 9.45 pm on October 29, 2010.
However, A Sharmila, the defence counsel appointed by the District Legal Services Authority, has questioned the prosecution’s theory. One of the significant questions raised her is the conduct of the two children during the day as narrated by the prosecution’s witnesses.
“The police say the victim girl was sexually assaulted at around 10.30 am.
But the shopkeepers and villagers who have seen the children later in the day have said that the girl and her brother were standing near the van which was parked on the road side close to the shop. If indeed the victim had undergone such a horrific experience, naturally she will cry for help on seeing any third person. Moreover, she won’t be able to stand,” she has argued.
Photographs of the children’s dead body while it was fished out of the water clearly show that all the clothes of the victim were intact. But the police had said one of her innerwear was recovered from the van after Mohana Krishnan was arrested, which the defence has argued is illogical.
Nonetheless, the defence has not been able to dispute the abduction and murder of the children by the accused.
However, a statement made by Manoharan under Section 313 of the CrPc is likely to strongly establish the prosecution case. In the statement, Manoharan has confessed to have accompanied Mohana Krishnan and purchased cow dung powder and milk from shops at Angalankurichi village.
Another main argument of the defence is that Manoharan had not absconded,but remained in his house even two days after the alleged crime before police arrested him.
Lawyers say the case is also peculiar in another sense. On July 25, 2012 the accused Manoharan had written an 11-page letter to the court and it has been included as his statements by the court. But the contents of the letter have not been revealed to both the counsel as it is privileged communication to the court. Much of the judgment could depend on the content of the letter.