On Tuesday, a special court in Kerala’s Palakkad district found guilty 14 of the 16 accused persons in the lynching and murder case of Attappady Madhu. The punishment will be announced by the court on Wednesday.
The accused who have been found guilty have been identified as Hussain, Marakkar, Shamsudheen, Radhakrishnan, Abubakr, Siddique, Ubaid, Najeeb, Jaijumon, Sanjeevan, Satheesh, Hareesh, Biju and Muneer. However, the court acquitted 2 persons named Abdul Kareem and Aneesh.
According to the reports, the accused were found guilty by the Mannarkkad Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Special Court five years after the incident happened. All the accused have been convicted by the Court under sections 323, 304, 149 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the SC/ST law. 2 convicts named Sanjeevan and Satheesh have also been booked under IPC sections 141, 143, 326 and 324.
All through the duration of the verdict, a sizable police force was stationed outside the court to prevent any untoward incidents. Also, special police protection was set up for Sarasu, his sister and his mother, Malli. Madhu’s mother had requested police protection in writing.
The case’s trial was finished on March 10 and the verdict was to be posted on March 18. Nevertheless, the date was first pushed to March 30 and then to April 4.
A poor Adivasi tribal man from Attapadi tribal area was tied up and beaten to death…
— திவேக் கிருஷ்ணன் (@divekrish) February 22, 2018
The selfie they took before killing him… 😡😡😡 pic.twitter.com/KXvquENy4y
On February 22, 2018, a mob assaulted and murdered Madhu (30). He used to live apart from his family in a cave in the wilderness because of his mental impairment. He was seized from a cave in the jungle and led by a group of people to Mukkali, a tiny intersection in Attappady, where they accused him of routine shoplifting. He reportedly died as a result of the accused’s attack. He had to be transported to a hospital enroute to the police station after being turned over to the police at Mukkali. Unfortunately, the hospital pronounced him brought dead.
There have been 16 suspects in the case, all of them are from the Attappady neighbourhoods of Mukkali, Anamooli, and Kallamala. A total of around 100 of the 129 witnesses were questioned.
Throughout the trial, up to 24 of them became hostile. At the direction of the High Court, Special Court Judge KM Ratheesh Kumar concluded the trial procedures in the case. The prosecution had expressed confidence that the defendants would get the worst punishment possible if found guilty. On the other side, the defense attorneys were also making every effort to get the accused acquitted. The biggest defence claim was that the police, not the accused, tortured Madhu.
In April 2022, the procedures at the special court hearing of the case began. The court had placed tight conditions on the release of 11 accused people on bail last October. In response to the outcry over Madhu’s murder, police detained the suspect two days following the incident. Social media was widely used to share images and videos of tribal youths under the custody of a group of individuals.
On May 30, 2018, the Kerala High Court granted conditional bail to each of the 16 accused. To stop the 12 defendants from influencing the witnesses, the trial court revoked their bail in August. Although overturning the judgement regarding one of the accused, the Kerala High Court maintained the decision to revoke the bail of 11 of the accused.
One of the accused persons had also shared images on social media where a helpless Madhu was seen standing and looking at his assaulters with his hands tied up.
Some media reports stated that the victim was suspected by the mob of a house burglary three days before the lynching, while others claimed that he was suspected to have stolen a bag of rice. Reports also speculated that Madhu’s mental state rendered him unable to commit a crime.
However, the special court today held guilty 14 of the 16 accused in the Attappady Madhu lynching case. The punishment will be announced by the court on Wednesday.
