11 of the 24 witnesses turn hostile in Kerala tribal youth’s lynching case

The trial in the case of a tribal man’s lynching was not going in favour of the prosecution, as 11 of the 24 key witnesses examined thus far turned hostile.

The situation arose amidst allegations that the witnesses were being influenced by the accused through bribery. Apart from that, the mother of the deceased also claimed that she had to move out of her home because some of the associates of the accused frequently threatened her.

On February 22, 2018, Madhu, who was 28, was accused of stealing rice from a shop, and subsequently lynched by a gang at Agali in Attappadi tribal village. The police had filed a case against 16 persons, and the charges against them included murder, along with sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Madhu’s mother Malli and sister Sarasu had, from the beginning, expressed concerns over the case investigation, and then later the trial. The initial special prosecutor, appointed by the government, even kept from appearing for the hearings, citing various reasons; he later resigned. The government later appointed Rajesh Menon as prosecutor.

Moved by the mother’s plight, actor Mammootty offered support.

When the trial began recently, a series of prosecution witnesses started turning hostile. Even a forest department employee, along with a couple of other witnesses, who had earlier given statements before the magistrate, were also among the 11 hostile witnesses.

Sarasu told DH that a person, named Abbas, repeatedly threatened her mother to withdraw the case. The family was forced to change homes because of this constant threat. As there was no action from the police on their complaints against Abbas, a petition was filed with the court, which ordered a probe into the matter.

Dalit rights activist Dhanya Raman said: “It was yet another instance of how money and power was used by the accused to deny justice to weaker section of society. Despite Madhu’s mother and sister specifically complaining about a person who was threatening them, no efforts were made to expose the blatant attempts to sabotage the case.”

According to Sarasu, the family would approach the state government seeking measures to ensure a fair trial, and stringent action against those trying to sabotage the case.

Prosecutor Menon, however, said that since there were 122 witnesses in the case, and many of them were crucial ones, it was too early to make any comments on the case’s future.