Accused In Kerala Human Sacrifice Case Challenge Police Custody, Allege Cops Leaking Confession Statements To Media

The three accused persons in the recent human sacrifice case of Elanthoor Village have approached the Kerala High Court against the order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court VIII, Ernakulam, which permitted the police to take the accused persons in custody for 12 days.

In the Criminal Revision Petition moved through Advocate B.A. Aloor, the petitioners have argued that the order passed by the Trial Court was illegal and improper, and liable to be interfered with.

Two women lottery vendors had been allegedly abducted, killed and buried as part of a ritualistic sacrifice, in the months of June and September by the three accused persons, namely, Muhammed Shafi alias Rasheed, Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila.

The accused in the petition have said that the entire story regarding human sacrifice of the two women lottery vendors by the petitioners has been invented by the Prosecution "at the instance of wrong information received".

The petition argues that the three accused are from reputed families, and in the event of such a long period of custody being granted to the police, there is every possibility that the Petitioners would be ill-treated and physically and mentally tortured by the investigating agency.

Moreover, such a long period of custody being sought is also for the purposes of parading the Petitioners before the public and media, it alleges.

"The investigating team had spread wrong information in order to defame the dignity of the Petitioners before the public at large, which aspect was not considered by the Trial Court while granting the police custody for 12 days," according to the petition.

The accused have further argued that it was the passion of certain investigating officers to disseminate to the media piecemeal or full information regarding the progress of investigation.

"All concerned should realise that once a case involving the commission of a cognizable offence has been registered and the F.I.R. forwarded to the Magistrate concerned, the matter is sub judice and no police officer has the right to leak out information regarding the outcome of investigation until the final report is eventually filed before the Court, but the investigating agency violated very norms even before producing the petitioners before the Hon'ble Court ...", the petition states.

The petitioners have also submitted that such passage of information by the police to the media results in breach of the Conduct of Rules, apart from imposing unnecessary pressure on the Courts which are to eventually try the cases.

Most of the materials collected by the police during the course of the investigation is only hearsay and other inadmissible evidence, which, at times, has been extracted from the Petitioners through third degree methods, the plea alleges.

"...such material will not stand during the scrutiny of a court of justice during trial, thereby the Fourth Estate also does not seem to realise the irreparable damage that may be inflicted on the victims of crimes and the alleged culprits and those close to them through sensationalised journalistic adventures", the petitioners have said.

It has been further submitted that the investigation agency has flouted the mandatory procedures right from the stage of arrest itself and threatened the accused into giving self-incriminating statements, thereby resulting in a great miscarriage of justice.

The accused have also said that their fundamental right to appoint an advocate while they were being taken in and detained till arrest was also denied by the investigation agency.

On these grounds, the petitioners have prayed that the Order of the Magistrate permitting them to be taken into 12 days police custody be quashed and set aside.

The Petitioners have also prayed that appropriate directions may be issued to the Director General of Police or other respondents not to parade the Petitioners or disclose the confession statement to the media and public till filing of charge sheet. It has also been prayed that the petitioners may be permitted to meet their lawyers during the police custody period or interrogation.

Case Title: Muhammed Shafi & Ors v. State of Kerala & Ors