KOCHI: As the accused remains elusive, the family of the woman who was assaulted after she questioned illegal sand mining near her house in Muvattupuzha has decided to take the legal route to bring the accused before the law. Akshaya, who was roughed up by a Marady resident, gave a statement under Section 164 of CrPC before the Muvattupuzha Judicial First Class Magistrate on Thursday.
According to the 20-year-old’s complaint, she was verbally abused and roughed up by Ansar, 39, when she tried to take videos of the illegal mining on her mobile phone on June 15. The Muvattupuzha police had registered a case invoking charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Meanwhile, the Ernakulam District Court will consider Ansar’s anticipatory bail petition on Friday. The court has also sought Akshaya’s view on the bail plea. “We will go forward with legal action,” said V N Lalu, her father. He said the final year BSc student had resisted illegal sand mining that would affect the foundation of their house.
“On that day, she hadn’t gone to college as she was sick. When she noticed the illegal mining behind the house, she tried to capture the video on her mobile phone as the police had directed the local residents to send the pictures and videos of illegal sand mining after local residents had lodged complaints.
The accused abused her verbally when she went outside the house to capture the registration number of the tipper lorry. On noticing that, two youths passing by on a motorcycle intervened,” said Lalu, an employee at the FCI godown in Palakkad.
The mining gang had agreed not to mine the property close to their house. “Five families, including ours, are living in the area. The other families also opposed the illegal mining. As the mining is being done at a depth of around 15metres, it will affect the existence of our house, which we built by availing a bank loan. That may have forced my daughter to come out against them,” he added.
Akshaya, who underwent treatment for a week, is gradually coming out of the mental trauma, Lalu said. Her younger sister is in Class VIII while her mother runs a beauty parlour. None of the other family members were home when the incident occurred. Several persons, including the local MLA and panchayat president, have extended support and demanded the arrest of the accused.