No senior advocates to represent: Justice for Madhu still a long way off

Kochi: Madhu, who was subject to mass brutality and beaten to death in Attappadi is under attack once again. Some iniquitous forces are apparently operating their influence on Madhu’s mother in a manner that has the justice system's hands tied.

The trial court had sentenced the accused in the case to seven months of rigorous imprisonment against which the accused had filed an appeal. Owing to Madhu’s mother’s complaint, senior advocate K.P Satheesan withdrew from appearing in the appeal case. 

The lawyers representing the accused are well-experienced. Legal advisers are of the opinion that in such a scenario, advocates with inadequate experience in dealing with criminal cases taking up the prosecution would be a problem.

The police had prepared the chargesheet in this case including murder charges. However, during the trial, this charge was conveniently dropped. As per law, if a person is attacked with an intent to harm, it still comes under murder.

KP Satheesan, who resigned from his position as the prosecutor of the case on Wednesday, said that if the allegations of murder were upheld, at least five of the accused would have been charged with life imprisonment. He is an advocate who appears for the CBI in criminal cases.

During the trial court proceedings, the prosecution was initially handled by High Court (HC) advocate C Rajendran who also stepped down following Madu’s mother's demands. The same thing is being repeated as the case reached the HC.