MANJERI:Though the police have done a commendable job in the investigation of Radha murder case, their attempt to charge the culprits under a couple of sections as per the amendments to the laws relating to rape in IPC failed in the court. The IPC section for rape has been amended after the Delhi gang rape case and it is the first rape and murder case registered in the state since then.
Apart from this, the failure of prosecution to prove the conspiracy in the case relieved all the persons brought on the shadow of doubt in this case at different stages of investigation.
Radha murder case gained the public attention due to two reasons. The first one is that the main accused in the case was serving as the personal staff member of Minister Aryadan Mohammed at the time of the murder. Second is that the murder took place in the local office of the Congress at Nilambur. There were allegations that a few Congress leaders, including Nilambur Municipal Chairman Aryadan Shoukath, were involved in the case.
However, the police ruled it out in the beginning of the investigation itself. Aryadan Shoukath, who was haunted by political opponents in the case, was quick to react to the verdict in the case.
Apology Demanded
“Some political leaders tried to tamper the image of me and my party fabricating stories connecting me and party to the murder. My innocence was proved through the verdict in the case and I am demanding an apology from the persons who haunted me and my family connecting with the Radha murder case,” Aryadan Shoukath demanded in a press release. The police has added sections like 376 A and 376 (2) (k) to the case as an experiment. The police investigation had found that the accused penetrated a broom into the vagina of Radha and thus they added the Section 376 A in the case.
Section 376A of the IPC states that sexual assault which, ‘inflicts an injury which causes the death of the person or causes the person to be in a persistent vegetable state’, shall be punishable. But the medical report did not support this argument.
They had also charged 376(2)(k) considering the employee-employer angle in the case. The police added the section was included considering the point that Biju was the secretary in the Congress office and Radha was working under him. As per the new amendment, if a person in a position of control or dominance over a woman rape, it increases the degree of the crime.
“The penetration of broom was not the cause of death in the Radha murder case. She was strangled to death. So Section 376 A was not proved in the court. Though Radha was working in the office under Biju, the salary was not being given by Biju. The judge might have considered this point during the trial,” Special Public Prosecutor P G Mathew said.
However, the prosecution has succeeded in proving rape case as per the new amendment of the law. In this case, the rape charge was registered on the basis of penetrating a broom to the genital part of the victim.