P K KUNJAPPAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner's plight is unfortunate. This is the second time he is coming to this Court. His son was celebrating the Christmas eve on 24.12.2001 along with his friends, near the house where the petitioner along with his family resides. Young men were celebrating Christmas. They had decorated the area and were also playing a tape recorder and dancing to the music. They had consumed liquor also. The celebration was running into the night. Some well meaning neighbours requested them to stop. The celebrations were brought to an end.

(2.) Two of the many boys, who were there, went and peeped into the bedroom of a neighbour. The neighbour saw them. He came out and made a big issue of that. The boys felt remorse. They apologised. The petitioner's son was not one of those who committed the indiscretion. He was trying to pacify all. At a certain point of time he found the reaction of the neighbour to be disproportionate. He is alleged to have owned the indiscretion wrongly and asked the said neighbour what he would do if he had himself committed the indiscretion. There was an exchange of words. The neighbour - Joy by name - caught hold of the collar of the deceased, son of the petitioner. That exchange of words does not escalate. Hearing the commotion, the wife of the petitioner, i.e. the mother of the deceased, had come to the scene. Indications reveal that when the mother came to the scene, the deceased had withdrawn from the scene and was sitting in a autorikshaw parked nearby. He did not show his face to his mother on that night. After some time, all people disbursed. The son of the petitioner did not return home on that night. Next morning also he was not to be seen. The parents and relatives became panicky. They made enquiries. He could not be traced.

(3.) It was later realised that a dismembered body of a young person was about to be buried in the local cemetery after postmortem examination. That body was discovered on the Railway track about 5 kms. away from the scene where the boys were celebrating Christmas on the previous night. There was no prompt identification of the dead body. But before the grave was covered, the cloths of the said dead body was identified to be that of the petitioner's son. The petitioner owned the body and the body was released to the petitioner and buried.