Kevin murder case: Two witnesses turn hostile

Kottayam: Two more witnesses turned hostile during the trial of the Kevin murder case on Wednesday.

Witnesses Suneesh and Muneer changed their earlier statements, and told the court that they did not see Niyaz, second accused in the case give his mobile phone to the police.

Suneesh and Muneer, who are Niyaz's neighbours, were witnesses when Niyaz was brought to his house as part of custodial probe.

The duo had earlier told crime branch DySP that they saw the police recovering a mobile phone from Niyas's house on June 7, 2018. They however, denied this statement in court. Subsequently, they were declared hostile.

'I haven't seen the police recovering his mobile phone from there. The police has made me sign on some papers, Suneesh told the court.

Muneer too gave a similar statement: 'Police had come to Niyaz's house. But I didn't see them recovering his phone. They told me to sign some blank papers.'

Kevin P Joseph, a 23-year-old Dalit Christian youth, was murdered on May 27, 2018 by a gang led by Sanu, the eldest brother of his fiance.

The trial of the case is expected to be completed in six months as it comes under the category of honour killing.