Marangattupally custodial death: Crime Branch trying to absolve cops
The police said that Siby was taken into custody under Abkari Act 15 C for drinking at a public place.
KOTTAYAM: The Crime Branch probing the death of dalit youth, Siby, 40, of Marangattupally, on July 11 last year, is trying to absolve the police officers of the charge of custodial torture, it is learnt. The CB is focussing on the comparatively less offence of the police registering a false case against Siby for public drinking and for not admitting him to the hospital despite him sustaining injuries.
Siby was taken into custody by the Marangattupally police on June 29, 2015, and admitted to the Kottayam MCH on June 30 after his health condition worsened. While undergoing treatment at the MCH for cerebral haemorrhage, he succumbed to his injuries on July 11.
Siby’s parents, in their petition to the then state police chief and the home minister, had said that their son had told them at the MCH that the police had tortured him while in custody. The hurt and homicide wing of the Crime Branch, which investigated the case, has concluded that Siby died due to the injuries sustained by him after a brawl with Amal, 16.
Crime Branch hurt and homicide DySP Johnson P. Joseph said that Siby was not tortured while in police custody. “However, the police committed two lapses. They falsely registered a case under section 15 A of the Abkari Act, and did not admit him to hospital when he was injured,” Mr Joseph told Deccan Chronicle.
The police said that Siby was taken into custody under Abkari Act 15 C for drinking at a public place. A case was registered against Amal, the accused, on July 1 after Siby’s health deteriorated and the issue snowballed into a controversy.
Immediately after the death of Siby, the chairman of the State Police Complaints Authority Justice K. Narayana Kurup had said the police were trying to make a boy a murderer in the case. Justice Kurup told DC on Thursday that the authority will investigate the Crime Branch findings. Incidentally, the accused police officer, K.A. Georgekutty, who was suspended from service after the incident, has now retired from service.