Incessant rains lash Kerala; 'Red Alert' in 5 districts
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Heavy rains lashed Kerala, especially the south and central regions on Saturday, causing water-logging in several areas and leaving many rivers in spate, as the weathermen sounded 'red alert' predicting extremely heavy rainfall in five districts of the state.
According to the latest update of the Indian Meteorological Department, the 'Red Alert' was sounded for Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, and Thrissur districts.
An orange alert, warning of very heavy rainfall was issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.
"Under the influence of the Low pressure area over Southeast Arabian Sea off Kerala coast, Kerala is expected to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy falls till the morning of October 17. Isolated heavy rainfall is expected on 18th and further reduction in rainfall from 19th morning," an IMD statement said here.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the India Meteorological Department has warned of widespread heavy rains in the state due to the Low Pressure area formed over the Arabian Sea.
Appealing to the people of the state to keep extra vigil in the next 24 hour, he said in a Facebook post that the rains already hit the south and central districts and it would intensify in the northern districts also by the evening as per the weather forecast.
The water level in some rivers is expected to rise and shutters of certain dams are likely to be opened, he said adding that those living in its catchment areas should be ready to follow the instructions of authorities.
Meanwhile, two children had a miraculous escape after a portion of the wall of their house collapsed in incessant rains on Friday night at Chempakamangalam in the capital district where rains has been battering the city and rural areas alike since last night.
The wall collapsed on the bed, where the children were asleep, but they escaped with minor injuries, family sources said.
District Collector Navjot Khosa advised people to avoid visiting tourist places and going near rivers and other water bodies in view of heavy rains in Thiruvananthapuram.
Four shutters of Neyyar Dam here were raised by a total of 240 cm in view of the rising water level, the authorities said adding that the shutters of Aruvikkara Dam would be raised to 350 cm from the present 310 cm in the afternoon.
Destruction of roads was reported in many places including in Kollam and Kottayam districts while severe waterlogging made life miserable in Kuttanad region, popularly known as the 'rice bowl' of the state spread in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts.
Intermittent downpour lashed high range areas in Kottayam and the hill district Idukki.
The Thrissur district administration urged people living in low-lying and other disaster prone areas and on the banks of rivers to move to safer places as per the instructions received from the authorities.
Fishing boats are prohibited from venturing into the sea, they added.
Revenue Minister K Rajan called a meeting of district collectors via online this afternoon to coordinate with the disaster management programmes and take stock of the damage caused by the rains across the state.
Health Minister Veena George convened a virtual meeting of MLAs at the collectorate in Pathanamthitta, the district which had witnessed widespread destruction during the massive floods in 2018.
The water level is rising steadily in many rivers including Meenachal and Manimala.
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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.
