The Mavelikkara additional sessions court acquitted all the accused in the 13-year-old murder case of ABVP activist Vishal, who was hacked to death on July 16, 2012.
Vishal was a first-year-degree student at NSS College, Konni. The attack occurred when he had arrived to attend a programme organised by the ABVP—the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh—to welcome first-year students at Chengannur Christian College. Twenty people, including a minor, associated with Campus Front—the students’ wing of the now-banned Popular Front of India—were the accused in the case.
The chargesheet had also alleged that the accused inflicted extremely serious injuries on two others who were with him, and physically assaulted several others as well. Vishal, who was critically injured in the attack, died the next day while undergoing treatment at Kottayam Medical College Hospital. The case was initially investigated by the local police and later taken over by the Crime Branch.
The prosecution produced as evidence Vishal’s statement to a friend, made while he was being taken to the hospital, that he had been stabbed by Popular Front activists. An identity card belonging to the third accused, Shafeek, recovered from the scene, along with weapons seized based on the statements of the accused, was also cited as crucial evidence. However, the court acquitted all the accused, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
“We have decided to approach the High Court and pursue the matter further, because justice has not been delivered in this case. The acquittal of all the accused is something that cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” ABVP Kerala State Secretary Eshwar Prasad told THE WEEK. The student body alleges that from the very beginning, there was a deliberate delay in the handling of this case. “In the first five months, the police did not take the initiative to arrest the accused. The third accused [the person who allegedly stabbed Vishal, according to ABVP] was arrested only after several months. Even that arrest took an inordinately long time,” said Prasad, who added that the ABVP had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to seek the appointment of a special prosecutor in this case.
“Successive governments—the Oommen Chandy government (UDF) and the Pinarayi Vijayan governments (LDF)—were sluggish in handling the case, including the recovery of weapons and other crucial aspects. It was only after approaching the Supreme Court that the case could move forward at all,” he said.
ABVP alleges that during the trial, KSU and SFI activists who had witnessed the incident and were studying at the college at the time—including the then KSU district secretary and the SFI unit secretary—changed their statements in court. “What they told the court was not what they had originally told the police. In court, they even claimed ignorance about Campus Front and its activities, despite clearly knowing about them earlier,” alleged Prasad.
“There was also an instance where a security staff member changed his testimony after allegedly accepting money. Many such developments occurred—either due to government inaction or deliberate attempts to sabotage the case. This verdict has emerged as part of that pattern. Therefore, ABVP will continue to pursue this case in the High Court and other higher courts, and will move forward on all judicial fronts until justice is delivered for Vishal.”
Prasad also drew a parallel between the Vishal murder case and the Abhimanyu murder case. SFI activist Abhimanyu, 19, was killed in July 2018. The accused in that case were also linked to Campus Front as well as the SDPI and the PFI. “Whether it is a Congress or a CPI(M) government, organisations like the SDPI have been able to carry on their functioning. In fact, the governments have extended tacit support or legitimacy to such extremist elements, which is reflected in the slow pace of cases like the Abhimanyu murder case as well,” said the student leader.
However, post-verdict, defence lawyer Priyadarshan Thampi—who appeared for accused Nos. 1 to 5—said that it was a fabricated case. “According to the police version itself, members of the KSU, the SFI, the ABVP, and Campus Front were all present at the place of occurrence. In that unfortunate incident, a clash broke out and a student was injured.
“Even as per the prosecution’s own case, allegations were made against only one accused. I am referring to the prosecution’s case, not the defence version. The allegation is that a single accused inflicted a single stab using a knife. None of the other accused did anything; none of them were carrying weapons. So, our main defence was that this case was fabricated,” said Thampi.
