Cong leader Ramesh Chennithala seeks appointment of prosecutor in tribal man lynching case

Senior Congress leader and MLA, Ramesh Chennithala, on Saturday sought appointment of a special public prosecutor in the case connected with the lynching of tribal man Madhu at Attapady in Palakkad district in February 2018.

Chennithala, in a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleged that the government was sabotaging the trial in the case to help the accused. He said it was a shame that the trial court had to ask for the prosecutor in the case.

"The government is trying to sabotage the trial in the lynching case of a tribal youth and in turn trying to help the accused. The government should immediately appoint a prominent lawyer as the Special Public Prosecutor for the proceedings in the case and take necessary steps to ensure punishment for all the accused," Chennithala said.

The prosecutor in the case failed to appear before the court on January 25, the date of hearing, following which the court enquired about the absence of the lawyer.

Sources from the government told PTI that this was the second prosecutor appointed in the case as per the demand of Madhu's family.

"The first prosecutor, as suggested by the family of Madhu, was removed as he made some unacceptable demands including exorbitant salary, a separate office, a high-ranking official as his assistant among other things. Later a retired district judge was appointed but he was unable to appear due to a surgery and later the pandemic-related issues," the sources said.

However, the trial of the case that happened in 2018 was yet to begin.

Police had on May 23, 2018, filed the charge sheet in the case connected with the lynching of Madhu at Attapady on February 23, 2018. All the 16 persons arrested in connection with the case has been charged with various offences including murder.

The 440-page charge sheet was filed at the Special court for crimes against SC-ST at Mannarkad in Palakkad. The 27-year old Madhu was lynched after a mob accused him of theft of some food articles from a shop in the area. The incident had triggered widespread condemnation and protest from different quarters.

The post-mortem report had shown that he was beaten up and two of his ribs were broken in the attack.

An amount of Rs 10 lakh was given to Madhu's mother from the Chief Minister's Relief fund.

Chandrika, the youngest sister of Madhu, was among the 74 tribal youths appointed through special recruitment in the police force as part of the government's efforts to empower people from the marginalised sections.

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