Dalit woman's murder accused seeks halting of trial

An Assam native accused of raping and killing a dalit woman here moved the trial court today for stopping all criminal proceedings against him, alleging that "serious lapses" have been found in the probe against him.
Accused Ameerul Islam, filed the plea during the ongoing in-camera trial against him at the Ernakulam district and principal sessions court, said his counsel B A Aloor.
Aloor said Islam pleaded with the court to summon the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) report, submitted in January this year by Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas.
Claiming that the report seriously questioned the credibility of the police probe into the case against him, Islam pleaded with the court to discharge him after perusing the same, said Aloor.

He said Islam has also sent his application for stopping the trial to the chief justice of Kerala High Court and the state governor.
The vigilance report stated that the probe conducted so far was not in the right direction as it had serious lapses in collection of scientific evidence and that the proof would not stand legal scrutiny in the court, said the counsel for Islam.

The investigation team had submitted a 1500-page charge sheet in the case in which Assam native, Ameerul Islam, was the sole accused. He was arrested in June 2016.
According to the charge sheet, the victim, who was a law student, was murdered after the accused tried to rape her at her residence at Perumbavoor in April last year.

Police had collected 75 pieces of material evidence, 125 documents and taken statements of around 105 witnesses, besides conducting several scientific tests.