Shahabas murder case: Kerala HC allows accused minors to pursue education in juvenile home

The Kerala High Court directed the state government to provide study facilities for the students accused in the Shahabas murder case.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court directed that necessary facilities be provided for the further education of the students accused in the Thamarassery Shahabas murder case. The directive was issued to the superintendent of the Observation Home under the Juvenile Justice Board in Kozhikode, where the accused students are currently housed. Six accused, charged with murder, are currently residing there. The intervention came after the accused students filed a petition in the High Court. The court also directed the Thamarassery police to ensure the protection of the accused students, who had approached the court seeking permission for admission to the eleventh standard.

The charge sheet in the Shahabas murder case names six minors as accused. The charge sheet, which includes 107 witnesses, also presents digital evidence, including chats from an Instagram group. The charge sheet was filed before the Juvenile Justice Board. A separate investigation will be conducted into the conspiracy behind the murder. This investigation will shed light on the alleged involvement of the relatives of the accused students, as alleged by Shahabas's family.

Shahabas died on March 1 while undergoing treatment following a brutal assault by his classmates. The High Court had earlier rejected the bail applications of the six accused. The court also criticized the Education Department's decision to withhold the results of their tenth-grade examinations, following which the results were released. Shahabas was a tenth-grade student at MJ Higher Secondary School, Thamarassery. Before his death, Shahabas had appeared for only one subject in the SSLC examination, in which he secured an A+.