Kerala - Kochi

Appeal filed in Ashna case

KOCHI: An appeal was filed on Tuesday against the verdict of the Thalassery Additional District and Sessions Court (Fast Track III) convicting all the 13 Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP-RSS) workers in the Ashna murder attempt case and awarding them varying years of imprisonments.

The fifth accused, Naroth Ramachandran, was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment while other accused were awarded five-year jail terms. The case related to a bomb attack on the house of a Congress worker at Cheruvancherry on September 27, 2000 in which three had been injured including six-year-old Ashna, who had lost her leg in the blast. The appeal said prosecution evidence was not sufficient to connect the accused with the offence alleged against them. The prosecution had not placed the real facts before the sessions court.

A Bench comprising Justice K. Balakrishnan Nair and Justice M.R. Hari Rani on Tuesday closed a writ petition filed by a Muslim convert seeking police protection from his father.

According to the petitioner, Manu Sam Jose of Pathanamthitta, he had converted from Christianity to Islam on his own. However, his father had opposed this. He sought police protection as he apprehended that his father would harass him. He alleged that he had been detained by his father for sometime and he escaped from his custody.

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