The murder of Abhimanyu M, a BSc Chemistry student in Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam, in July 2018 is one of the most controversial cases of campus violence in Kerala. Everyone expected speedy justice in the heinous crime owing to the fact that Abhimanyu was a leader of ruling CPI(M)-backed Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the huge public outcry the murder generated. However, the trial in the case is yet to begin even six years after the murder.

In the most recent hearing, the Principal Sessions Court in Ernakulam postponed the date for preliminary trial to December 4. After a prolonged delay, caused by multiple factors including crucial documents going missing from the court, the trial was set to begin in the first week of October.

Twenty-one-year-old Abhimanyu, hailing from a tribal family in Idukki’s Vattavada, was stabbed to death by a 16-member gang, allegedly involving members of the Campus Front of India (CFI), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), and the Popular Front of India (PFI). According to the police investigation, the clash happened after a ‘Down with communalism’ graffiti painted by Abhimanyu to welcome a new batch of students provoked the CFI members. Before the stipulated 90 days, the police submitted a charge sheet at the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II in Ernakulam listing 26 persons as accused.

Though the police arrested 20 persons in connection with the crime, the prime accused Sahal Hamsa and Mohammed Shahim, who allegedly stabbed Abhimanyu and his friend Arjun respectively, remained elusive, causing much embarrassment to the police and the Home Department. After evading arrest for a long time, Shahim finally surrendered in court in 2019 and Hamsa a year later, during the first wave of Covid-19.

Hurdles in the trial

Special public prosecutor G Mohanraj told TNM that the delay was caused by three major factors, namely the time taken to arrest all the accused, the pandemic, and an ongoing trial in another prominent case at the same court. According to him, the pandemic resulted in a delay of around three years. “As there are multiple accused involved, it was difficult to maintain certain Covid protocols such as social distancing,” he said.

The major reason is the high-profile 2017 actor assault case, the trial of which is going on at the Principal Sessions Court. Honey M Varghese, the judge at this court, is hearing the case, in which actor Dileep is one of the accused. As the court has been holding hearings on a daily basis, the trial in the Abhimanyu case has been getting delayed. However, Mohanraj said that it was the prosecution’s demand to conduct the trial at the Principal Sessions court, considering the delay in trials in other courts.

Curious case of missing documents

A few months ago, judge Honey Varghese informed the High Court that around 11 documents, including the charge sheet and post-mortem report in the Abhimanyu case, had gone missing from the court. According to reports, the documents went missing in December. Following the direction of the High Court, the judge asked the prosecution to submit ‘reconstructed’ documents in March. The director general of prosecution has begun an investigation into the issue.

Advocate Mohanraj said that all reconstructed documents were submitted to the court and copies have been given to the defence counsel. “The documents going missing will not affect the case. We had the original copies of the documents, including the post-mortem report,” he said.

Meanwhile Abhimanyu’s brother Parijith Manoharan told TNM that he didn’t think there was anything unusual about the delay in the case. “Regarding the missing documents, the prosecution was able to submit reconstructed evidence. The trial is expected to start in December. The prosecution is keeping us informed about the developments,” he said.

Former director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali said that the Abhimanyu murder case was among several that were delayed due to the pandemic. He pointed out that the trial in yet another political crime – the murder of Youth Congress leader Shuhaib in Kannur in 2018 – too is yet to start.

The Abhimanyu murder case won national attention in 2022 after the Union Home Ministry cited it among the list of crimes committed by the PFI for its ban.

Jisha Surya is an independent journalist from Kerala.