KOTTAYAM: In a suspected case of honour killing, Kevin P Joseph, 23, a newly-wed Dalit Christian hailing from SH Mount in Kottayam, who was abducted allegedly by his wife’s relatives, was found dead in a rivulet at Chaliyekkara, near Punalur, in the early hours of Monday. The reason? Kevin’s caste and relatively lower financial situation.
Police said they could confirm whether it was a murder only after post-mortem examination. The incident has put the local police in the dock as the station house officer (SHO) at Gandhinagar, Kottayam did not act timely to save the young man’s life even though his wife Neenu Chacko, 20, and relatives lodged a complaint early on Sunday morning and waited at the police station all day.
According to Kevin’s father Joseph Jacob, alias Rajan, his son’s life could have been saved had the police not overlooked their complaint. The incident put the Kerala Police, already facing the heat for the custodial death of another young man S R Sreejith at Varappuzha, Kochi, to shame as SHO M S Shibu reportedly told Joseph and Neenu the police could take up their complaint only after the scheduled programmes of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his police station limit are over.
Kochi Range IG Vijay Sakhare suspended Shibu and ASI Sunnymon on the basis of the report filed by Kottayam DySP Shajimon Joseph. District police chief V M Muhammed Rafique was also transferred for the lapses in handling the incident. It all began after Kevin and Neenu registered their marriage at the Ettumanoor sub-registrar office on Friday. The police said Kevin was in love with Neenu, a second-year graduate student at B K College, Amalagiri, and hailed from Thenmala in Kollam.
Following a complaint lodged by Neenu’s relatives she was missing for a couple of days, the Gandhinagar Police summoned the newly-wed couple to the police station on Saturday. However, Neenu preferred to go with her husband. This provoked her relatives and she was beaten up by them on the police station premises.
Passing the buck
Gandhinagar SHO M S Shibu reportedly told Kevin’s wife he could not attend to the case as he was busy with Chief Minister’s programmes in his station limits
CM Pinarayi dismissed it saying there was no need to drag him into such an allegation
Documents showed Shibu was in the team of Changanassery DYSP, giving security to the CM
Special squads formed
Four special squads have been formed to nab the culprits behind the suspected murder of Kevin P Joseph