“This kind of moral policing can never be encouraged in a civilized society.”
Palakkad:
A special court in Kerala today sentenced 13 people to seven years imprisonment for lynching a tribal man in Palakkad district for allegedly stealing food items in 2018.
While sentencing, the court said, ‘Moral policing cannot be promoted in a civilized society.’
Madhu, a tribal man from Attappady, was beaten to death on February 22, 2018, after being caught and tied up by a group of locals who accused him of theft.
More than five years after the incident, special court judge KM Ratish Kumar sentenced 13 of the 16 accused in the case to seven years in jail for the offense of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code . IPC).
Describing it as “the first case of mob lynching in God’s own country”, the court said, “Let it be the last such case.” Condemning the actions of the convicts, the court said, “The material placed before the court shows that the accused persons have played the role of moral police. Such moral policing can never be encouraged in a civilized society.” Is.”
“Unless such instances of moral policing are excommunicated by adequate punishment, this practice will be repeated by like-minded individuals.” In its order on sentencing, the court noted that the accused had “mercilessly inflicted injuries” on Madhu alleging that she had stolen food items.
The court said that even if the stolen goods are found in Madhu’s custody, it can be said that she “stole because of the rumblings of her stomach”.
“For that charge of petty theft, the acts committed by the accused persons resulted in the death of Madhu… Therefore, the Court cannot impose punishment of flea bite in this case for the reason that the person who died in the incident is not A big shot,” Judge said.
At the same time, the court did not award them the maximum punishment under the law for the crime as it believed that there was a chance that they could become socially committed citizens as one of them had given a banana to Madhu and the other Offered him a cup of juice.
The judge said, “These acts of A3 and A14 show that there is still a vestige of human thought in the mind of the accused and therefore, the court observed that the possibility of turning the accused into socially committed citizens could not be ruled out.” May go.” The court also said that “every saint has a past and every sinner a future”.
“For that reason and taking into account the grounds stated by the accused and their counsel, I am not inclined to award the maximum punishment provided in law for the offence,” the judge said in his 486-page judgement. Conviction and punishment of accused. However, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Rajesh M Menon said that he was happy with the conviction, but the sentence awarded was “not sufficient”.
“They deserved to get a life sentence,” he said, adding that he firmly believed the state would appeal to increase the sentence. The SPP said there was an “anomaly” in the court’s decision not to sentence the convicts to life imprisonment.
The convicts found guilty on Tuesday were also sentenced to different terms for other offenses under the IPC, but since the jail sentences have to be served concurrently, they would serve only 7 years, he said.
Madhu’s family also expressed displeasure over the punishment given to the culprits. His mother told reporters outside the court, “The sentence is not enough.”
His sister agreed. “We are not satisfied with the punishment given. There has been a failure on the part of the court. The court perhaps could not understand what actually happened, how he was beaten up and brought out of the forest. This court was meant to protect us ” interests,” she said.
“If we don’t get justice here, where will we go for it? The only option we have is to approach the higher courts. We will get justice for Madhu, even if we have to go to the Supreme Court.” He added. She also urged the state government to set up a mental institution in Attappady and said that what happened to her brother should never happen again in Kerala.
In its judgement, the court also said that Madhu’s death was a lesson for the police to take every complaint, even of petty theft, seriously.
It added that had the police caught Madhu on the complaint of theft, she could have been treated and rehabilitated for her mental illness at the state’s expense.
“In fact, this incident is a lesson to the police force in our state, reminding them that no complaint should be left unaddressed and all such complaints should be taken seriously.
“If the police do not pay heed to the complaints of theft keeping in view the value involved, it will develop a tendency of moral policing in the society,” the judge said.
The court also directed initiation of perjury proceedings against 10 witnesses in the case of giving false evidence.
“Even Madhu’s close relatives turned hostile to the prosecution’s case. Some of the witnesses dared to blindly deny their own visuals on CCTV, mobile phone etc., when played in the court, even though the visual were crystal clear.
The court said, “Though this aversive factor has not materially affected the finding of the court, it is unwarranted to encourage such practice of key witnesses being hostile to the prosecution’s case so as to vitiate the judicial system. “
On the other hand, the court appreciated and acknowledged the role played by the media in paving the way for Madhu to “get justice”.
It said that if the media had not given importance to the case, “this case would not have ended like this”.
In addition to punishment for the offense under Section 304 II of the IPC, the convicts were given separate sentences for several other offenses under the IPC, the highest of which was seven years.
Of the 13 convicts, 12 were also punished for the offense under section 3(1)(d) of the SC/ST Act.
A fine of over Rs 1 lakh was imposed on each of the 13 convicts by the court, which said that if the amount is recovered, 75 per cent of it should be distributed among Madhu’s legal heirs.
“Out of the amount to be given to the legal heirs, 50 per cent of the amount shall be given to the mother of the deceased Madhu,” the court said.
The Palakkad District Legal Services Authority was also directed by the court to provide a suitable amount as compensation to the legal heirs of Madhu under the Victim Compensation Scheme of 2021.
The 16th accused in the case was convicted of the offense of “assault or criminal force other than with grave provocation” under IPC section 352 and was therefore sentenced to only three months in jail and a fine of Rs 500.
The remaining two accused in the case were acquitted by the court.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)