KOCHI: The police have drawn flak for their failure to arrest the prime accused in a shocking case in which a woman was raped and assaulted for two months in a posh apartment in Kochi despite filing a complaint on April 8. The case suddenly came under spotlight on Tuesday when a petition was filed in the High Court by prime accused Martin Joseph Pulikottil of Thrissur. An FIR was registered, but the culprit has been evading police for the past two months.
As the photographs of the woman, a 27-year-old fashion designer from Kannur, with bruises all over her body surfaced on social media, the police on Tuesday issued a lookout notice for Martin, 34, a stock trader, who is on the run.
The detailed statement of the girl was recorded by Sub-Inspector Vidhya V. Another SI Gopi C K had filed the FIR and forwarded it to the senior officers on the same day. But despite it being a heinous crime, the police sat on the files for over two months. The delay in initiating an investigation into it is attributed to the election and lockdown, following a spike in Covid cases.
“We received a complaint from the victim after a month of the crime. We tried to track his mobile phone tower location with the help of the Cyber wing, but we couldn’t do it as it was switched off. The police officers also reached his home in Thrissur to trace him. We have issued a lookout notice and strengthened the search. We are also tracking his friends’ movements,” said Aishwarya Dongre, DCP, law and order. It is learnt that the accused was roaming in Kochi limits itself and he visited his lawyer for submitting the anticipatory bail petition.
On May 18, the Ernakulam Sessions Court dismissed Martin’s anticipatory bail plea, observing that the victim was brutally manhandled by the accused. Surprisingly, even after that court observation, the police allowed the accused to remain at large.
Delay on part of police can’t be justified: Women’s Commission
“The delay on the part of the police cannot be justified at any cost,” said Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson M C Josephine, who issued a notice to the police for their unprofessional approach in dealing with the case.Pointing out that it was after two months that the news about such an assault even came to light, Josephine added that despite the act being so heinous in nature, the police even failed to collect proper background information of the accused.
The anticipatory bail applications initiated by the accused before the district court and the high court were also cited as a reason by the police to slow down the manhunt. “If a person has filed anticipatory bail, it means the case is under the consideration of the court. In most cases, we will initiate steps based on the court’s observation. We have given due importance to the case ever since it was registered at the central station. There was no procedural delay from our side,” said a police officer.