Life term for nine in Kerala moral policing case

Thiruvananthapuram: Nine people who were accused of taking on the role of moral police and beating to death a man in November 2011, were handed life sentences on Thursday by the special additional sessions court at Tenhipalam in Kozhikode. The case was significant because it was the first of moral policing cases in Kerala in which a verdict was being given.

All the accused hail from Kodiathur in Kozhikode district. Those convicted were Kollalathil Abdurahman (55), Abdul Karim (45), Abdul Nazar (31), Maliekal Fayaz (28), Kulathingal Najid (22), Kadavu Rashid (22), Hijaz Rahman (24), Mohammad Jamsheer (25) and Shahul Hameed (29). Five others were earlier acquitted by the court.

The case was that Kodiathur Kottapurathu Shahid Bava (26) was beaten up by the accused on November 9, 2011. He died in hospital four days later.

The incident happened shortly after Shahid Bava was returning after having reached a house near the Kodiathur village office by an autorickshaw. The gang was accused of brutally attacking Bava after pinning him to an electric post.

A woman and her child were living at the house that Bava visited, and the gang allegedly reached the spot on the basis of information provided by the autorickshaw driver. The gang was apparently angered by the fact that Bava was regularly visiting the house.

Besides the life sentences, three of the convicted were slapped with fines of Rs25,000 (Dh1,497) each and the other six were imposed a fine of Rs50,000 each. From the fine collected, Rs200,000 will be paid to Bava’s father.

Post mortem reports had shown that Bava had suffered serious head injuries. Police took him to the medical college and he was later taken to a private hospital. One of the accused in the case, Kodiathur Fayaz is still absconding.