Deepak’s death: Court rejects bail plea of woman held for suicide abetment

Kozhikode: Kunnamangalam judicial first class magistrate court on Tuesday dismissed the bail petiton of the woman, who was arrested under suicide abetment charges in connection with Govindapuram-native U Deepak's death after she uploaded a video accusing him of sexual harasment during a bus ride in Kannur.Court rejected the bail plea upholding the objections raised by the prosecution that releasing the accused could lead to the accused influencing witnesses and evidence tampering.The prosecution said that they were recording statements of fellow travellers and had to obtain forensic analysis on her mobile phone. They argued that the video was uploaded on social media with the intention of insulting Deepak. The mental trauma following the false accusation led to him taking the extreme step, the prosecution added.Meanwhile the defence counsel argued that the woman had no prior acquaintance with Deepak and she had only posted the video of a misconduct she faced in a bus.In the remand report, police stated that the woman had recorded seven videos featuring him in an unacceptable manner.The report stated that Deepak took his life amid severe mental distress over the visuals being uploaded on social media and fear that viewers would portray him as a sexual pervert. Police noted in the report that an examination of CCTV footage from the private bus, in which the videos were allegedly recorded, showed Deepak and the woman boarding the bus and nothing unusual occurred during the journey.The report added that the bus crew gave a statement that they hadn't noticed any sexual harassment bid inside the bus and the man and the woman had alighted from the bus without any issue.