NAZEER Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The accused in Crime No.717 of 2019 of Perumpetty Police Station has approached this Court seeking release on bail under sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal. He is implicated in the crime alleging offences under Sec. 449, 376(2)(m) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

(2.) The investigation into the aforesaid crime commenced on 15/12/2019, when the deceased-a lady of 26 years, was found hanging in the bedroom of the house where she was staying. Though for several months the investigating team could not identify the accused, after the Crime Branch took over the investigation petitioner was arrested pursuant to the receipt of the report from Forensic Lab relating to the DNA samples. Petitioner was arrested on 23/10/2021. Subsequently, a final report has been filed, and the case is now pending as S.C. No.99 of 2022 on the files of the Additional Sessions Court-III, Pathanamthitta.

(3.) Sri.Sijo Pathaparambil Joseph, learned counsel for the petitioner contended that petitioner is innocent of the crime and that he has been implicated as an accused without any evidence to connect him with the crime. The learned counsel further submitted that the deceased, though married to another person, was in a live-in relationship with CW1. He submitted that the report of the Doctor, who conducted the autopsy, indicated the existence of injuries even before the presence of the petitioner was noticed in the vicinity of the house. He further submitted that the investigating agency has, in fact, protected the actual perpetrators of the crime and arrested an innocent man for wriggling out of the difficulty faced by them in identifying and nabbing the accused. Learned counsel asserted that the petitioner has been made a scapegoat and that even the DNA sample obtained from the fingernails of the deceased revealed the presence of CW1, apart from the spermatozoa matching that of CW1. In any event, the learned counsel submitted that continued detention of the petitioner as an under-trial prisoner is not required.