Kasaragod: Police registered a case of kidnapping against a Muslim youth who was riding a bike with his Hindu colleague in Kerala’s Kasaragod district. It was a man of 23 years and a native of Lakshadweep who was booked for allegedly kidnapping a 17-year-old girl, despite the girl and her mother testifying before the police several times that the duo were colleagues and there was no case of kidnap nor they have any complaint.
It is learnt that pressure from local BJP leaders and others was behind the case, and the police are not interested in canceling the FIR. On Tuesday, the Kasaragod Sessions Court granted the man anticipatory bail after he had suffered two months of mental torture, the girl’s mother said. Also, the court heard the man’s anticipatory bail application four times.
The incident involving the girl and the youth took place on the night of September 13. The Kasaragod Women's Police registered a case against the man, an operation theatre technician at a private hospital in the district, and the girl, a nursing trainee at the same hospital, who went out on a bike ride. The hospital where both of them worked had celebrated Onam on September 13. After celebrations, the duo decided to go for a ride around 12.45 am.
However, some BJP-sympathizing staff at the hospital portrayed this as a communal issue and pressured the girl, her mother and the hospital owner to file a complaint against the man. On September 19, the police registered an FIR under Section 137 (2) of the BNS for kidnapping based on a statement by the hospital owner.
At the court, the public prosecutor argued that giving bail to the man would incite communal tensions since the couple are of different faiths. However, the court, which was considering the man’s bail plea for the fourth time, noted that going out with someone without the intention of committing a crime is not a crime. Since the man has not committed any crime, the court is granting the man anticipatory bail.
The man’s counsel told the court that the action of the police and the prosecution, who filed a kidnapping case without receiving any complaint as part of a Sangh Parivar conspiracy, raises worrying questions. The court noted that police acted only with prejudice rather than evidence.
Despite testimonies by the girl and her mother that they had no complaint, police took the girl to the hospital and conducted a medical examination. The girl also gave a confidential statement to the Judicial Magistrate, stating that they had gone to visit the city together with her consent.
The girl’s mother says that some local BJP leader approached and pressured her to name the man as accused. Police recorded her statement several times, hoping that she would change her stand against the man. She said that the police wrote in the FIR that the man abducted her 17-year-old daughter with the intention of abusing her. Though the girl’s medical examination did not find anything, the police registered a case naming the man, the girl’s mother said.