Teen farmer whose 13 cows died of food poisoning gets financial help from Celebrities, govt
Idukki: Two days after a young dairy farmer suffered a devastating loss, with as many as 13 of his 20 cows dying from suspected food poisoning, offers of new cows and financial assistance poured in from various quarters at their farm in this mountainous district of Kerala on Tuesday.
State ministers J Chinchu Rani and Roshy Augustine visited 15-year-old Mathew, the distressed young farmer, at his house in Velliyamattom village this morning and offered support and assistance from the state government.
Besides Kerala ministers, actor Jayaram also lent a helping hand to the teenaged Kerala farmer.
While the ruling CPI (M) offered to give two cows, business giant Lulu group handed over an amount of Rs five lakh to the family to buy 10 cows. Actor Jayaram, known for his love of animals, also visited the boy's house and handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to buy new cows and rebuild his farm.
ALSO READ: Young dairy farmer loses 12 cattle to suspected poisoning in Kerala
Jayaram said the film crew of the Malayalam movie 'Abraham Ozler', in which he stars, has opted to cancel the scheduled trailer launch event on January 4, and instead decided to donate the Rs 5 lakh allocated for it to Mathew's family.
Additionally, Jayaram conveyed to Mathew that actors Mammootty and Prithviraj will also be contributing financial aid of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively.
Earlier, Animal Husbandry Minister Chinchu Rani said that steps would be taken to hand over five insured cows to the young farmer soon. Cattle feed for one month would also be made available to him free of cost at the earliest, she said after visiting the young farmer and his family.
Furthermore, a financial assistance of Rs 45,000 from the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) would also be ensured for the distressed farmer, she added.
''All five cows will be of good breed. They will be given after they are insured. If any casualty happens to the cattle, he would get back the entire amount,'' she told reporters.
The minister, accompanied by Water Resources Minister Augustine, also advised Mathew to grow grass on unused properties in the area to ensure good-quality feed for the cattle.
Actor Jayaram, after handing over the cheque, said he could understand the sorrow of the young farmer and his family over the deaths of their dear cows.
''Everything will be alright soon,'' the actor said, consoling them.
He also told the farmer that he would help him buy high-bred cows from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu at a good price.
After learning about the plight of the teenaged farmer from the media, Lulu Group chairman M A Yusuffali directed his company officials to visit their home and provide immediate assistance.
CPI(M) sources revealed that the party's state secretary, M V Govindan, contacted Mathew and his family members over the phone to offer consolation. He also extended the offer of providing them with two cows.
Thirteen of Mathew's 20 cows died on Sunday, following which he became distressed and was hospitalised.
Preliminary reports suggest that the cattle might have been affected by a poisonous substance called hydrocyanic acid (HCN) present in the tapioca skin used as feed, a non-conventional but cost-effective food for cattle, a government official said.
Three of the cows that survived are under treatment, while another cow with four calves has survived.
The losses incurred by Mathew is estimated to be around Rs 6 lakh, officials said, adding that unfortunately, the family had not insured the cows.
The boy, who took over the farm two years ago at the age of 13 after his father's untimely demise, relied on tapioca leaves as an economical alternative to conventional cattle feed.
Mathew's brother George and younger sister assist him with managing the farm.
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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.
