Kerala man attacks 20-yr-old with two machetes for alleged relationship with sister

Kerala police have arrested two men accused of attacking a third man and his friend with machetes in Ernakulam’s Muvattupuzha on Sunday. 

The prime accused has been identified as 22-year-old Basil Eldose, a native of Karukadam in Kothamangalam municipality. He allegedly planned the attack as he was bitter over the victim’s alleged relationship with his sister, who was classmates with the victim in 12th grade. 

The attack is a suspected case of caste-based violence as the victim —  Akhil — belongs to the SC/ST community. However, the police are yet to confirm this. 

Around 5 pm on Sunday, Akhil, an engineering student, and his friend Arun were attacked near a medical store in Muvattupuzha town. Basil and his accomplice — a 17-year-old — rode a bike to the scene of crime where he allegedly used two machetes to attack the victims. 

According to reports, CCTV visuals which have emerged from the medical store show an injured Akhil running away from the accused, and getting on his friend Arun’s bike. 

“Akhil is building his house here in Muvattupuzha. On Sunday evening, we had gone to the town to buy some food for the construction workers. Since we did not have a mask, we stopped at the medical store to buy masks. That was when we saw them at the opposite side of the road. They asked us to come over. Since Akhil had seen Basil before, we assumed that it was for a friendly chat. But it turned out to be a sudden attack,” Akhil’s friend Arun told Asianet News. 

Arun added that the accused had machetes in both his hands and went on to attack Akhil using both hands. 

“He used his hands to block the attack on his head and sustained a serious injury on his right hand. When he ran away, Basil continued to chase and attack him. He has injuries on his hand, his back and shoulders. I was on my bike and when I got down and tried to stop Basil, he turned around and attacked me. They then fled the scene on their bike when people started rushing to the scene,” Arun said. 

The victims rode their bike to a hospital in Muvattupuzha. However, as Akhil had sustained serious injuries, he was admitted to the Kottayam Medical College hospital shortly after, following which his health condition is now stable. 

While the 17-year-old accomplice (A2) was taken into custody on Sunday itself, the Muvattupuzha police arrested Basil on Monday night. 

“He was hiding in a place close nearby. We took him into custody on Monday evening and proceeded to record his arrest. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under section 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt) under the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,” Muvattupuzha DySP Anilkumar K confirmed to TNM.