Evidence to prove accused had no legal insanity crucial; cops say current focus on building case

Residents claim that despite them complaining several times to the police, Rithu, a troublemaker, was let off considering his mental health issues.
Usha’s sister Kumari breaks down when the bodies of Chendamangalam triple murder victims were kept for public homage on Friday.
Usha’s sister Kumari breaks down when the bodies of Chendamangalam triple murder victims were kept for public homage on Friday.(Photo | T P Sooraj, EPS)
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3 min read

KOCHI: As the medical insanity of 28-year-old Rithu Jayan who murdered three neighbours including two women at Perepadam near Chendamangalam is under scrutiny, the evidence to prove the accused had no legal insanity is crucial in such cases.

Perepadam residents claimed that despite complaining several times to the police, Rithu — a troublemaker involved in multiple criminal cases — was let off considering his mental health issues.

According to Ernakulam Rural Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena, the medical insanity aspect will be covered at the later stages of the probe. “Our current focus is to collect concrete evidence against the accused so that we can present a strong case before the court, based on which he would get the appropriate punishment. He was a troublemaker included in the rowdy list of the police station. He was also remanded in one case,” Saxena said.

G Mohanraj, who has appeared as a special prosecutor in several sensational murder cases, said legal insanity is crucial in cases like the triple murder in Chendamangalam. Mohanraj was the special public prosecutor in the case relating to the rape and murder of a five-year-old at Aluva, in which accused Asafak Alam was granted capital punishment. In that particular case, defence lawyers had tried to present Asafak Alam as a mentally unstable person.

“In such cases, courts give prominence to the legal sanity of the accused over medical sanity. If the accused runs away after the murder, it implies that he was aware of the consequences and he was not legally insane. Similarly, if the murder is committed following a provocation, like disputes between neighbours, it shows that the accused had a motive and he was not legally insane. So, medical insanity alone is not enough in such cases,” Mohanraj said.

Vinisha’s daughters and sister inconsolable
Vinisha’s daughters and sister inconsolable

The court shows no lenience if a person commits a crime under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he added. According to the police, Rithu, after committing the murder, fled from the house on the motorcycle belonging to the injured Jithin.

He was intercepted by the police after seeing him riding a motorcycle without a helmet. While being taken into custody, Rithu told the cops about the murder.

“His relatives claim that he was being treated for depression, but we couldn’t get any medical records stating that he was mentally unstable,” Munambam DySP Jayakrishnan S said. He said there were disputes between both families for the past few months.

“The deceased persons had filed a complaint against Rithu and family. And Rithu’s family had given a counter-complaint against the deceased persons. Our probe reveals that he was mentally stable while committing the murders,” the officer said. Regarding the allegation of little action against Rithu despite complaints, Jayakrishnan said he had been included in the rowdy list at the Vadakkekara police station.

“It is not true that the police had not taken any action against him. Considering his troublemaking nature, we had included him in the rowdy list. Thereafter, we collected information about him regularly from residents and ward members. We spoke to the ward member last month about him. We were then informed that he had gone to Bengaluru. He returned to the place just two days before committing the murders,” the Munambam DySP said.

16-member special probe team formed

The police on Friday constituted a special team to investigate the murder of three members of a family at Perepadam, Chendamangalam, by their neighbour the day before. Ernakulam Rural Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena formed the 16-member team, which will be led by Munambam DySP Jayakrishnan S. Two CIs and four SIs are part of the team. They will interrogate the accused soon.

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