The Kottayam Municipal Sessions Court has sentenced all 10 convicts in the Kevin murder case to life on Tuesday. The court had convicted 10 of the 14 accused for honour killing on August 22. This is the first conviction for honour killing in Kerala. The 10 convicted persons are Sanu Chacko, brother of Kevin's fiancee Neenu, Niyas Moran, Ishan Ismail, Riyas, Manu, Shen, Nishad, Fazil and Shanu Shajahan. Neenu's father Chacko John and three others—Ramiz Sherif, Shinu Shajahan, Vishnu—were acquitted.
Kevin P. Joseph, a 24-year-old dalit Christian youth from Kottayam, was abducted and murdered by Sanu and team in May 2018. The court had ruled that Kevin's murder was a clear case of honour killing. The charges slapped on the convicts include murder, kidnapping and trespassing. Reacting to the order, Kevin's father said that it was unfortunate that four of the accused, including Neenu's father, have been let off. "I will react once the punishment is announced on Saturday. We are not happy that her father and three others have been let off. We will contest this," said Kevin's father.
Kottayam Superintendent of Police Harisankar, who led the investigating team, said the police were happy that this tough case has been solved, and were now waiting to see the full judgment as to how the four acquittals happened. "It was a tough case because we had to work on circumstantial evidence. The hard work done by our team has paid off," Harisankar said. The preliminary hearing of the case, which began on February 13, 2019, was completed last month. The trial had to be completed in a span of six months as the case was deemed an honour killing. The court had confirmed that Kevin was killed in a bid protect the honour of the family of the prime accused. The chargesheet of the case says that he was kidnapped and murdered by a gang led by Sanu Chacko, brother of Neenu Chacko on May 27, last year. Sanu was the prime accused while his father Chacko was the fifth accused. Kevin had met Neenu while she pursued a course in a Kottayam college. Two days before the murder, the two had led a joint application for marriage registration at a sub-registrar office in Kottayam as the family of the girl had fiercely objected to their marriage.
Neenu's family later registered a complaint with the police, stating that she had gone missing. Though the police summoned the two, Kevin and his cousin Anish left the girl back at her hostel as she confirmed that she intended to go with Kevin. Thereafter, the armed gang, which arrived in three vehicles, reached Kottayam and vandalised Kevin's house and forcibly took away him and Anish, a native of Kalambukattuchira at Mannanam. The abductors thrashed Anish severely and left him on the way. Kevin's body was found in a river in Kollam district on May 28. His relatives alleged that he was tortured and killed. His family had alleged that laxity on the part of the local police in taking action on a man-missing complaint led by Neenu had resulted in the gruesome death of the youth. Sub-inspector M.S. Shibu and ASI Sunnymon of the Gandhinagar police station were suspended while Kottayam district superintendent of police V.M. Mohammed Rafeeque was transferred following the incident. The post-mortem conducted at the Kottayam Medical College hospital had found that there were 16 cuts and bruises on Kevin's body.
The story first appeared in Onmanorama