A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday acquitted seven accused in the murder of Sivaprasad of Ayiroor, near Varkala, in 2009 allegedly by the activists of the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM).
The Bench comprising Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice C. Jayachandran, however, confirmed the lower court order confirming the conviction and sentence of the fifth accused, Sudhi, under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and discharged the other charges against him.
The High Court acquitted Das of Cherunniyoor, second accused Ashokan of Kottarakara, third accused Jayan of Irumpalloor, fourth accused Madhu, alias Saji, of Cherunniyoor, seventh accused Sudhi of Varkala, tenth accused Sunil, alias Ponnumon, of Ayiroor, and 16th accused Selvaraj of Aluva from the murder case.
Prosecution case
The prosecution case was that the murder was part of a conspiracy hatched by the accused to carry out random killings by the members of the association to demonstrate the militant nature of the organisation. Sivaprasad was on his morning walk when he was murdered in the early hours of September 23, 2009.
The court observed that the case of conspiracy had not been proved by the prosecution nor the motive for the random crime was established. The documents recovered during the raids at the offices of the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM) and houses of several persons did not connect the DHRM with the alleged crime, the court said.
