Cattle sellers should also be charged with murder
The murder of cattle trader Husenabba has taken a mysterious turn. Husenabba’s body was found in a settlement around Udupi, after he was picked up by police, after Sangh Parivar people had assaulted him for transporting cattle. Investigations have revealed he died following a gruesome blow to his head. Now what remains to be established is whether this deathly blow was rained on him by Sangh Parivar members who had assaulted him before police took him in their vehicle for further investigation, or the police harmed him while he was in their custody. Initially the police had registered a case of mysterious death after Husenabba’s body was found, stating he must have died owing to exertion or heart attack as he had escaped when Sangh Parivar members caught him red handed with the cattle. But the case was reopened owing to public pressure that expressed doubts on the conclusion reached by the police. With that, a shocking truth of police being hand in glove with the perpetrators came to light. The miscreants had assaulted Husenabba in the presence of police and put him into the official jeep. When the cops took him to police station they realized Husenabba was dead. Then the body was disposed of in a secluded area with the help of Sangh Parivar, and the police floated the theory of heart attack.
The post mortem report had to state whether Husebanna died of heart attack or as a result of assault. Now, the report says it was due to serious injury to the head that he died. Investigation needs to be carried out to see who caused the injury to him – Sangh Parivar or the police? What’s clear beyond doubt is that the police have a prominent role in the murder. Else why would they dispose the body in some remote area? The higher authorizes of police department need to be commended for having carried out an impartial investigation even when their own colleagues are involved in the crime.
The state government has handed over the case to CID since a neutral agency needs to investigate into the case that has police involvement in the crime. Now that cops have probed into the mater, and have arrested the accused, is there a need for another investigation? The reason for this is a case of Adi Udupi which had such gaping holes that the accused easily got out of it without being charged of any crime. The police could not collect evidence against anyone and produce in the court. Senior members destroyed some prominent evidence and witnesses. Everyone went scot free after this. In case of Husenabba police department has shown the gumption to level charges against its own people, without attempting to camouflage the facts. But then why did it get transferred to CID? We do not have answers yet for that. Since police department has Sangh Parivar members too within its folds, it is better for a neutral agency to investigate. Police department has provided impetus to Sangh Parivar to increase its presence in coastal Karnataka. There seems to be great understanding between fake Gaurakshaks and cops in these areas.
There is another aspect here. The man who sold the cattle has informed the Sangh Parivar members about Husenabba having bought it from him. This makes him partner in the crime. Such cases are aplenty. If the police can level charges against cattle traders or transporters, why can’t they hold cattle selling-owners equally responsible too? Else such cases would increase with no fairness in the trade. CID police have a great responsibility in terms of bringing the culprits to book in Husenabba case and repose faith of coastal Karnataka people on the law implementation agencies.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
