Palakkad : The court on Tuesday found 14 accused guilty in the mob-lynching case that killed Adivasi youth Madhu. Those pronounced guilty are : 1st accused Hussain, 2nd accused Maraikkar, 3rd accused Shamsuddin, 5th accused Radhakrishman, 6th accused Abubakar, 7th accused Siddique, 8th accused Ubaid, 9th accused Najeeb, 10th accused Jaijumon, 12th accused Sajeev, 13th accused Satish, 14th accused Harish, 15th accused Biju and sixteenth accused Munir. There were a total of 16 people arraigned in the case. The verdic, that comes 5 years after a murder that created much outrage across communities, was delivered by SC/ST Special Court Judge Ratheesh Kumar.
The mob-lynching took place on February 22nd of 2018. Agli police conducted investigations and submitted chargesheet on 31 May. The charges were read out to all accused on 17 March, 2022. The trial began on 28th April.
The pronouncment of verdict was scheduled twice before – on 18th March then on 30th. However, the copy-writing of 4000 – page verdict took more time to complete. Madhu’s family was lend police protection under Witness Protection Act meanwhile, after members of the household recently lodged complaint with the District Police Chief. They were all present in the courtroom today when the verdict was read. There were 103 witnesses of whom 24 turned hostile.
The Crime: On 23 May, 2018 a gang of men from Mananthvadi village ganged up against Madhu, a mentally unstable tribal youth. The assailants bound his hands and beat him up for what they said was stealing grocery from shop. Madhu spent most of his time in the forest and ventured to the village only on lookout for some food. The brutal lynching of a marginalised tribal over picking a pack of rice and some basic grocery, created shock and outrage across communities.
