10 found guilty of honour killing in Kerala

Kottayam (Kerala): The Principal Sessions court in Kottayam has found 10 persons guilty in the honour killing of 24-year-old Kevin Joseph and has reserved the sentencing order for Saturday.

On May 28 last year, the Kerala Police had fished out the body of Kevin Joseph, who had married Neenu Chacko (20), who belonged to a higher caste. The autopsy report had revealed that Kevin was tortured to death.

Among those who were found guilty include Neenu Chacko’s brother Shanu, who is the first accused. Neenu’s father, who was the fifth accused in the case, was let off along with three others.

Reacting to the order, Joseph’s father said that it was unfortunate that four of the accused, including Neenu’s father, have been let off.

“I will react once the punishment is announced on Saturday. We are not happy that her father and three others have been let off. We will contest this,” said Joseph’s father.

Kottayam Superintendent of Police Harisankar, who led the investigating team, said the police were happy that this tough case has been solved, and were now waiting to see the full judgement as to how the four acquittals happened.

“It was a tough case because we had to work on circumstantial evidence. The hard work done by our team has paid off,” Harisankar said.