Kevin Joseph: Married on Friday, murdered on Sunday

KOTTAYAM / KOLLAM: The body of Kevin P Joseph, who was reported missing since the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday from Mannanam near Kottayam, was found in a canal in

Thenmala

in Kollam district early on Monday, amid reports that police failed to even register a case despite a formal complaint that the 23-year-old newly-married youth had been abducted by an armed gang.

Kevin’s body was recovered from the

Chaliyakara

rivulet that passes through an isolated area within the AVT rubber estate off Thenmala. There were marks of deep injuries on the body, including around the eyes, though police denied reports that one eye had been gouged out.



Kevin had a register marriage with Neenu Chacko from Thenmala on May 25, as the girl’s comparatively better-off family had violently objected to the marriage. According to police sources, the dalit background of the victim, financial disparity between the families and failure of the girl's family to force Kevin out of the marriage may have led to the murder.

On Sunday morning, Neenu and Kevin’s father Joseph (Rajan) had lodged a complaint with

Gandhi Nagar

police station in Kottayam that Kevin had been abducted by her brother Shanu from the house of Kevin’s cousin Aneesh Sebastian. The Gandhi Nagar cops refused to register a case, with SI MS Shibu allegedly saying that he was busy with the chief minister’s visit to Kottayam medical college hospital.

Two arrested men are DYFI leaders

Kevin and Aneesh were kidnapped around 1.30am on Sunday by a 12-member quotation gang who came in three vehicles and broke into Aneesh’s house. The two were taken in separate vehicles and during the journey to Thenmala, both were brutally beaten up. Aneesh was dropped off at Thenmala around 11am on Sunday and told that if Neenu was returned to her family they would, in return, let off Kevin.

Two of Neenu’s cousins, Ishan and Niyas, who have been arrested by police in connection with the incident are DYFI leaders in Thenmala. Niyas, who was active in SDPI but later joined DYFI, is currently Edaman unit secretary of that organisation. Both of them have been suspended from DYFI following news of their alleged involvement in the crime.

Following a preliminary probe, the SI of Gandhinagar station MS Shibu and grade ASI Sunnymon were suspended. The SP of Kottayam V M Mohammed Rafique was also transferred.

The Kottayam DySP is investigating another complaint that the SI had accepted a bribe from the relatives of the girl. The state Human Rights Commission took a suo motu case on the complaint about the lapse of the police and directed the state DGP to file a detailed report on the incident within three weeks. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who condemned Kevin’s death, announced the formation of four squads under IG Vijay Sakhare.

Incidentally, Neenu’s mother was a

Muslim

who eloped with her father who belonged to the Malankara Catholic community. Following threats from the Muslim community at that time, the couple left for a Gulf country where her father was employed and returned a few years later for good. Later, they severed connections with the Malankara Catholic church and joined a Pentecost church and now run a stationery shop near Thenmala railway station.

At Kevin’s small rented house in Nattassery, there were heart-rending scenes on Monday. Kevin’s mother Mary was inconsolable as she held the new shirt Kevin bought the other day close to her chest.



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