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The Kerala High Court, on May 25, acquitted the first accused in a case pertaining to the brutal killing of an Adivasi man. Hussain Mechery (59) was convicted by a special court in 2023 after Attappady Madhu, an Adivasi man from Pallakkad district, was lynched in 2018. The High Court, however, dismissed appeals filed by the other accused.
After the verdict, Hussain’s lawyer told media persons that they had proven in court that he was not present at the time of the attack.
On February 22, 2018 Madhu (27) from Chindakki hamlet in Attappady, Palakkad, was brutally lynched by a mob after being accused of stealing rice and grocery items. Videos of the assault, recorded and shared on social media by the accused themselves, became crucial evidence in the case.
Madhu, who reportedly had mental health concerns and lived in the forest, was accused of theft, tied up, beaten, and later handed over to police. He died while being transported to the hospital in a police jeep. The postmortem revealed that he died of severe internal injuries.
Agali police filed the chargesheet within 90 days before the Mannarkkad Special Court, naming 16 individuals as the accused. In 2018, the special court delivered the verdict, relying heavily on digital evidence, including videos and photos showing the accused assaulting Madhu.
The accused were Husain Mechery (59), Marakkar Kiliyil (41), Shamsuddin Pothuvachola (41), Aneesh Kakkupadi (34), Siddeek Kurikkal Veettil (42), Ubaid Thottayil (29), Najeeb Varuthiyil (37), Jaijumon Mannampatta (48), Abdul Kareem Cholayil (52), Sajeev Kottiyurkunnu (34), Satheesh Murikkada (43), Biju Cherivil (41), and Muneer Viruthiyil (32).
In 2023, the special court in Mannarkkad convicted 14 out of the 16 accused. The court sentenced 13 of the key convicts to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide.
The High Court also increased the punishment for the 16th accused, Muneer, from three months of imprisonment.
