TVM man acquitted of murder charges after spending nine years in jail

Kanjiramkulam: A high court division bench comprising justices PB Sureshkumar and CS Sudha has acquitted Kanjiramkulam native BW Jothikumar (48) of charges of murdering his own father; he was released from jail.   

Jothikumar was behind the bars for the last nine years as per RI ruled by the CBI court. After coming out of the jail, Jothikumar expressed his satisfaction over finally receiving justice in the case.

Jothikumar’s father Wilson (57) who ran a grocery shop was brutally murdered on February 16, 2004. Wilson was stabbed on his neck with a knife. As per the investigation by the Kanjiramkulam police, a father-son duo in the neighbourhood was arrested. The police had said that the murder was triggered by the tensions that brewed between the parties, as Wilson asked the parties to pay back over Rs 1 lakh they had borrowed from him. However, Jothikumar, who then expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation, approached Kerala HC demanding CBI intervention in the murder.

However, in a strange turn of events, the CBI team led by Michael who investigated the case declared Jothikumar as the culprit in the case, acquitting the duo who were earlier accused in the case. As per the CBI charge sheet, Jothikumar allegedly killed his own father in a tussle over money. 

In the CBI court trial, 80 witnesses, 88 proof documents, and seven material evidence were also produced. Meanwhile, Jothikumar had expressed his willingness to undergo brain mapping in the case. At the end of the CBI trial, Jothkumar was declared the culprit in the murder case.

However, Jothikumar was finally acquitted of charges on the basis of an appeal he had filed while he was undergoing imprisonment. Advocate Shajin S Hameed had appeared on behalf of Jothikumar at the high court.