As Kerala grapples with the news of the abduction and alleged murder of 23-year-old Kevin P Joseph, reportedly by his wife Neenu’s family, the Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, VM Mohammed Rafique, has been transferred for not acting on the missing complaint filed. The new SP is Harishankar.
Apart from this, Sub-inspector MS Shibu and the ASI have been suspended. The police reportedly did not act on Neenu’s missing complaint, and did not take the complaint filed by Kevin’s family seriously.
The postmortem is presently being carried out at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. According to initial reports, injury marks were found on Kevin’s body and it seems as though his body may have been dragged for some distance.
Two people from the DYFI — Ishal and Niyas — have been detained in relation to the case, and are said to be the Neenu’s brother’s friends. Niyas reportedly had one of the vehicles, and is the Unit Secretary of the DYFI in Thenmala.
The suspects have reportedly escaped to Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu.
Protests are being held outside the Gandhinagar Police Station by the Congress, the BJP and All India Youth Federation.
Congress Leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan alleged that the family was made to wait outside the police station the entire night and that the complaints weren’t taken by the police, which shows their carelessness.
Hours after Kevin and Neenu’s wedding, Kevin was abducted from his residence in Kottayam by an armed gang on Saturday night. Kevin's body was found on Monday morning at Chaliyekkara, a few miles away from Thenmala in Kollam. A case has been filed against the bride's kin, who were opposed to the marriage, based on her complaint.
“Kevin is a Dalit Christian and the girl's father is a Christian, while her mother is a Muslim. Her brother has opposed the wedding. Police have taken into custody one accused in the abduction and have also seized an Innova used by the gang,” said a police officer at the Gandhinagar station, where the complaint is registered.
Investigations are currently going on in the abduction and murder case against Neenu's family, based on her complaint. She is currently admitted to the Kottayam Medical College hospital.