Palakkad: A court in Kerala on Wednesday sentenced 13 accused to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh even as it also sentenced another man to three months imprisonment and fine in connection with the 2018 lynching of a tribal man at Attapadi village of Palakkad district. The court has acquitted two accused in the case due to lack of evidence.
The sentence was pronounced by the Mannarkkad Special Court for Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, which convicted the 14 accused under charges of IPC 304(2) for culpable homicide. The accused are: Hussain Mecheriil, Marakar, Shamsuddin, Radhakrishnan, Abu Bakar, Siddique, Ubaid, Najeeb, Jaijumon, Sajeev, Satish, Harish, Biju.
While 13 accused have been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine, other accused, Munir who was sentenced to three months will be released as he has already completed the sentence while in police custody. The court while convicting the accused under the Prevention of Atrocities to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act on Tuesday reserved the sentence for today amid tight security arrangements.
Also read: Kerala: Court convicts 14 in 2018 Attappadi mob lynching of tribal man 2 acquitted
The fourth accused Anish and the eleventh accused Abdul Karim were acquitted by court for lack of evidence. Charges of unlawful assembly, atrocities against Scheduled Tribes and causing injury have also been framed against the accused. The case relates to the killing of 30-year-old tribal man Madu, who was mob lynched on Feb. 22, 2018, Madhu.
Madhu, son of Mallan and Malli of Attapadi Chindaki colony in Palakkad district, was killed by a mob, which accused him of theft. On notice, the local police rushed to the spot and shifted him to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. The trial in the case started last year on the directions of the High Court following a plea by the victim's mother, who said that the trial had not started in four years.
The prosecution said that Madhu died due to injuries sustained in the attack by the accused. Some of the accused had circulated the footage of Madhu being caught and beaten up by the mob on social media. These videos were also presented in court as evidence by the prosecution.
