Former manager of Union Bank, Thodupuzha branch, Percy Joseph has finally got justice after a four-and-half-year-long legal battle. The court has finally found the case filed against him for outraging the modesty of a woman police officer ‘false and fabricated’.
Thodupuzha judicial first class magistrate court-I judge Jomon John found the banker not guilty of the charges filed against him under Section-354 of the IPC and Section-119(1) (a) of the Kerala Police Act-2011 and acquitted him of all charges—therefore landing the then ASP R Nishanthini IPS in trouble.
Prameela Biju, who was with the ASP then, had filed a case against Percy Joseph stating that he had harmed her modesty by grabbing her hands when she met him in his cabin at the bank on 25 July 2011 for a loan to purchase a two-wheeler.
However, the court not only found the evidence provided ‘highly unreliable and unbelievable’ but also agreed to the defence’s opinion that the accused was trapped by the then ASP of Thodupuzha.
The court observed that the delay in registering the complaint, the third-degree torture the accused was subjected to and the prosecution’s failure to substantiate the evidence and to produce the CCTV footage would unveil the story of police’s brutality.
According to The News Minute, Judge Jomon John said, “The accused was taken into custody by the police even before an FIR was registered against him. Later, police fabricated a story against him and subsequently registered the arrest. The prosecution’s case appears to be false and fabricated. The evidence of the victim is highly unreliable and unbelievable.”
Percy told The News Minute that he was targeted for a reason. A former chairperson of the Thodupuzha municipality was unhappy with Percy as he had seized the equipment from a cooperative unit under the municipality following failure to repay the amount.
Percy added that the chairperson’s husband who had already obtained a loan from the bank approached him for another loan. “I offered to sanction Rs 50,000, but he wanted double the amount. I refused because he was not liable for it. He threatened me and said he will show what power he has,” Percy recalled.
Two days after this incident Prameela met Percy at the bank.
Although Percy has been acquitted of all the charges against him, the legal battles to obtain justice for five years’ torture and false implication by the police remain pending with the Kerala High Court.
