On Monday, the wedding of CPM leader Mohammed Riyas and Veena, the daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was reportedly attended by a convicted criminal, Mohammed Hashim. Hashim was reportedly involved in the murder of an RSS worker named Ottapilavu Suresh Babu in Thrissur, Kerala. His presence at the wedding of the Communist leader’s daughter has now sparked off a debate on social media.
As per reports, the murder convict is the cousin of the bridegroom, Mohammed Riyas. Hashim is serving a life sentence and was out of parole, owing to the Coronavirus outbreak. In his defence, Hashim said that he had not violated the parole conditions by attending the wedding ceremony. Although Hashim was acquitted by the Kerala High Court in 2017, he was convicted by the Supreme Court and sentenced to 7-years in imprisonment.
BJP leaders raise objection
On Monday, BJP leader Sobha Surendran tweeted a photograph wherein Mohammed Hashim could be seen standing behind the bride and the bridegroom. Calling the incident as ‘shocking’, she wrote, “Mohammed Hashim, the murderer of RSS Karyakarta Shri Suresh Babu, & convicted by Supreme Court for the same, attended the marriage of Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter at the Chief Minister’s official residence. He was one among the 50 special invitees.”
Mohammed Hashim, murderer of RSS Karyakarta Shri. Suresh Babu, & convicted by Supreme Court for the same, attended the marriage of @CMOKerala Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter at Chief Minister’s official residence. He was one among the 50 special invitees. Shocking! pic.twitter.com/DPAovrF13I
— Sobha Surendran (@SobhaBJP) June 15, 2020
Besides, BJP spokesperson (Kerala) Sandeep G Varier had also sought an explanation from the Chief Minister about the viral photograph. He asked Pinaryi Vijayan, who is also in charge of the State Home Ministry, to clarify whether a murder convict, out on parole, indeed attended the wedding of his daughter.
About Riyas and Veena
Amidst the pandemic, a total of 50 guests were reportedly allowed at the wedding that was held at the official residence of the CM, Cliff House, in Thiruvananthapuram. Mohammed Riyas, 2017 DYFI President and Communist leader, had earlier married Dr Sameeha Saithalavi. His marriage ended in divorce in 2015. Reportedly, his wife had accused him of domestic violence. Riyas had earlier led ‘beef cooking’ protests after the Centre sought to regulate the purchase and sale of cattle. He had also unsuccessfully contested for Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
Similarly, Veena was earlier married to advocate Suneesh but their marriage too ended in 2015. She had worked in the IT sector for close to 10 years and had founded a mobility and cloud solutions company named Exalogic. Congress leader PT Thomas pointed out that the website of the company had disappeared and reportedly traced to another company named Sprinklr which is responsible for maintaining Coronavirus data in the State.
