Attappady Madhu’s family has expressed happiness, solace and hope following cancellation of the bail given to the accused in the tribal youth’s lynching case on Saturday. Madhu’s mother, Malli, expressed confidence that her son would receive justice.
She said the family feared losing the case when the witnesses turned hostile one by one. As many as 13 witnesses turned hostile since the Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Mannarkkad, began the trial on June 8, 2022.
Madhu’s sister Sarasu hoped that no more witness would turn hostile. She said the family was on the brink of collapse as 13 of the witnesses stated before the court that they had been coerced by the police to give statements against the accused.
Special public prosecutor Rajesh M. Menon said the trial court would cancel the bail of the accused only in rare cases. He said he succeeded in convincing the court of the importance of sending the accused back in judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the court released on bail a youth, Shifan, who was arrested for threatening Madhu’s family. The court, however, restrained him from entering Attappady taluk.
Shifan was arrested over a week ago, but the court had denied him bail on August 12. Shifan is the grandson of Abbas, who was accused of threatening Madhu’s family to withdraw from the case.
Shifan had gone to Madhu’s house along with Abbas. The police recovered unaccounted-for money to the tune of ₹36 lakh during a raid at Shifan’s house earlier.
