Female colleague's suicide: Kerala high court junks IB officer's pre-arrest bail plea
Kochi: The high court on Monday dismissed the pre-arrest bail petition filed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer who is the sole accused in a case related to the death of a fellow female IB officer.
The bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, while rejecting the plea, observed that prima facie, the petitioner was in a position of control or dominance over the deceased and had repeatedly prompted her to end her life so that he could marry another woman. The accused had even coerced the deceased to fix a date for her death and subjected her to continuous abuse, as revealed from chat history retrieved from a deleted account on a phone seized during the investigation.
The court further noted that it cannot be concluded, at this early stage, that such conduct was not an 'instigation' as per section 45 of BNS (Abetment).
The 24-year-old lady officer, who was employed with the Bureau of Immigration at Trivandrum International Airport, was found dead near the railway tracks at Chakka Railway Bridge, Thiruvananthapuram, on March 24. Her family alleged that the accused had sexually assaulted her and defrauded her of approximately Rs 3.5 lakh.
The accused, however, claimed that she may have died by suicide due to pressure from her parents, who had allegedly forced her to accept another marriage proposal.
Upon perusing the case diary and related materials, the court found that the petitioner had been involved in simultaneous relationships with more than two women and had maintained physical intimacy with them. The deceased, over whom he wielded considerable influence, had been transferring her entire salary to him every month since Oct 2024.
It was also noted that she had become pregnant by the petitioner, and the pregnancy was subsequently medically terminated.
The WhatsApp chats retrieved from the deleted account indicated persistent mental harassment and coercive control by the petitioner. These chats, along with witness statements, pointed to the petitioner's sustained efforts to mentally break down the deceased and compel her to end her life, even urging her to set a date for her death.
The bench observed that the materials collected thus far may be only the tip of the iceberg, and the circumstances suggest that the petitioner's relationship with the deceased played a significant role in her taking the extreme step.
The court concluded that granting anticipatory bail at this stage could impede the investigation and obstruct the discovery of crucial evidence. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.
Additionally, the court expressed its displeasure over the leakage of WhatsApp chat details from the case diary to the media and orally directed that an inquiry be conducted into the same.
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