Kerala teen's death after overtaking police vehicle: Court rejects clean chit to cops; to probe directly
The 17-year-old Muhammad Farhaz died in August earlier this year after having his car flip over while he was attempting to get past the police officers at Kumbala in Kasaragod district. The involvement of three police officers has prompted a judicial magistrate court in Kasaragod to launch an investigation into their potential guilt for culpable homicide.
FollowKasaragod: A 17-year-old student identified as Muhammad Farhaz died in August earlier this year after having his car flip over while he was attempting to get past the police officers at Kumbala in Kasaragod district. The deceased was a Kannur native and a plus-two student of Angadimogar Government higher secondary school. The involvement of three police officers has prompted a judicial magistrate court in Kasaragod to launch an investigation into their potential guilt for culpable homicide.
After receiving a private complaint from the boy's single mother Safiya, Judicial First Class Magistrate II Abdulbasith T V began committal procedures against Sub-Inspector Rejith S R and Civil Police Officers Deepu T and Renjith P. To determine whether there is enough evidence to send an accused person charged with a major crime to a higher court for trial, committal proceedings are court hearings conducted in the magistrate's court. Adv Sejal said Safiya approached the judicial magistrate court with the private complaint under Sections 190 and 200 of CrPC on December 4.
Since the issue involved their officers, the court ruled that there was no basis for the police to look into it. "Now, the judicial magistrate will carry out the police's duties," stated Safiya's legal representative, Adv P E Sejal, in court.
One student came in a car for the Government Higher Secondary School's Onam celebration on August 25 at Angadimogar, Puthige. Several students boarded the sedan at 12:30 p.m. and departed the school for Friday's Juma prayers. The car pulled to a stop in front of a shop in Khateeb Nagar, a few metres from the school so that some students could get out. At that point, the three accused officers—who were part of the Kumbla Police Station—started to pull over next to the car.
Safiya, the mother of Muhammad Farhaz, said in her statement that the police approached the students and demanded they produce their driver's licence. In the front passenger seat was Farhaz. The driver produced his licence and other paperwork to the officer. The statement read, "Thereafter, for reasons that are best known to the policemen, they kicked the front door of the car and yelled against the students while using foul language against them." The pupils were so terrified by this that they left the area quickly. The two civil police officers and Sub-Inspector Rejith entered the jeep and started to pursue them.
The dangerous and bustling Khatib Nagar-Katathadka route, which is 3.5 km long and has six rigid curves, is home to several government buildings, stores, mosques, madrasas, post offices, and schools. This is where the intense pursuit took place. The car slid off the road and rolled multiple times before it reached Arikady. On the day of Onam, August 29, Farhaz passed away in a Mangalore hospital after suffering severe injuries. The driver and the three teens in the back escaped unhurt.
