Kerala - Kochi

Boat driver gets five years’ rigorous imprisonment

KOCHI: P.D. Sarangadharan, Additional Sessions Judge, Ernakulam, on Saturday, sentenced P.M. Raju, owner-cum-driver of the boat involved in the Thattekkad boat tragedy, to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 1.5 lakh on him.

Fifteen children and three teachers of St. Antony’s Upper Primary School, Elavoor, were drowned in Thattekkad Lake on February 20, 2007.

If the fine is unpaid, Raju will have to serve time for another year and a half.

The prosecutor sought the maximum sentence of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court, considering the circumstances of the case and participation of Raju in the rescue operation, said five years would be sufficient.

The court, on Friday, found him guilty of offences under Section 280 (rash navigation of vessel), apart from Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The court took to task the police for not investigating the negligence and irresponsibility of the teachers who had accompanied the students. The investigation officer had given an “extra-judicial judgment acquitting these people without investigation,” it said.

The fact that the teachers were also victims was not a ground to “underestimate or ignore the negligence” shown by them. The teachers had not discharged their responsibility properly. If they had done that, the unfortunate incident could have been averted.

The court said the boat had carried 61 people, 10 times the permitted capacity. Raju was aware of the capacity and the consequences of overloading the boat. Dismissing a contention of his, the court said that even if the teachers had insisted on going for boating with 61 passengers, he, knowing the boat’s capacity, should not have ventured for such a dangerous journey. Besides, the boat did not have suitable life- saving equipment. The court concluded that overloading was the reason for the accident.

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