Kerala, April 4 : A special court in Kerala on Tuesday convicted 13 people for beating a tribal man to death for allegedly stealing food articles in 2018 in Palakkad district of the state.
Madhu, a tribal man from Attappady, was beaten to death after he was caught and tied up by a group of local people who accused him of theft on February 22, 2018.
More than five years after the incident, special court judge K M Ratheesh Kumar convicted them for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years’ jail term, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Rajesh M Menon told reporters.
The jail terms to be served by the convicts would be pronounced on Wednesday, the SPP said.
Of the 13, the first accused was convicted for the offence under Section 304 II of IPC and the remaining 12 were additionally held guilty for crimes under Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery) of the IPC, he added.
Sections 326 and 367 carry maximum punishments of life imprisonment and up to 10 years jail term, respectively.
The 12 convicts were also held guilty for the offence under Section 3(1)(d) of the SC/ST Act, the SPP said.
The 16th accused in the case was only held guilty for the offence of “assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation” under Section 352 IPC which carries a punishment which may extend to three months or a fine which may extend to Rs 500 or both, he said.
The SPP said the court was of the view that the accused did not have the intention to kill the tribal man.
Of the 16 persons, the remaining two accused were acquitted by the court.
