Prosecution drove final nail in the coffin of Cyanide Mohan

Out of the 20 rape-cum-murder cases registered against Mohan Kumar alias ‘Cyanide’ Mohan, five of them ended in acquittal.

But many in the legal fraternity and police believe that the number of cases with Mohan being acquitted of all charges would have been more, if not for the dedicated efforts of those serving in the department of prosecutions. It was Special Public Prosecutor Cheyabba Beary and Public Prosecutor Judith O M Crasta who drove the final nail in the coffin of Cyanide Mohan.

When 20 cases were registered against the teacher-turned-serial killer Cyanide Mohan in 2009, the then government transferred the investigation to CoD.

Unfortunately, three officials on the verge of retirement were assigned with the task of filing a detailed chargesheet. A power-struggle within the department also ensured that the chargesheets filed in the court escaped scrutiny by senior police officials.

Initially, the loopholes in the chargesheets filed in 20 cases seemed to have placed Mohan in a position of advantage (In December 2013, Fourth Additional District and Sessions Judge B K Naik after awarding death sentences had also chided the CoD for such sloppy investigation). Mohan had leveraged this advantage to the hilt by rejecting court’s advice to appoint advocates and argue the cases himself.

The then government after much deliberations decided to appoint Cheyabba Beary as special Public Prosecutor in 2011. Cheyabba Beary had retired as Joint Director of Prosecutions after completing 29 years of service and was leading a life of contentment at his house near Kaikamba, on the outskirts of the city. The going however was not smooth for Beary.

An important witness, Mohammed, who had supplied cyanide capsules to Mohan, turned hostile. He was sore against police, who had registered a case for illegal possession of Cyanide capsules. It is here Cheyabba Beary’s experience and counselling skills came in handy, as he helped witnesses, many being poor, make statements without being intimidated by the court-room environment.

“I even provided assistance to Mohan to ensure that he did not have a feeling of being deprived,’’ recollects Beary, who is presently 70. His biggest victory was motivating the woman, who had survived by not consuming the cyanide capsule, to appear as a common witness in all the 20 cases.

His lasting memory is of Mohan shaking hands with him, outside the court after the pronouncement of judgement.

He tended resignation in 2014 and his successors, including Judith Crasta, continued the good work. Judith Crasta was instrumental in getting CoD to set up an office in Mangaluru who until then had shown little interest in the case. Due to technical difficulties in reimbursement of fares for witnesses, Judith had ended up paying bus fares from her salary.