Jesna missing case: Court accepts evidence submitted by father, orders reinvestigation

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday ordered a reinvestigation into the missing case of Jesna. The order was passed on a petition filed by Jesna's father, James Joseph. In its final report submitted to the court, the CBI stated they could not find out what happened to Jesna and that there was no evidence to confirm whether she was alive.

The father had pleaded with the court to reject the CBI report and order a reinvestigation, and the family had collected some evidence regarding the case. Handing over the new evidence in a sealed cover to the court, James demanded the CBI probe Jesna's disappearance for another six months. Meanwhile, the CBI had stated that it was ready to conduct further investigation if there was new evidence. After examining the evidence presented by Jesna's father, the court ordered for a reinvestigation.

According to James, Jesna was bleeding days before she left home and the CBI did not look into this. She bled a day before she left home. Though her blood-stained clothes were sent to the Crime Branch for testing, there was no further progress. The CBI did not investigate the place where Jesna secretly went to pray. She had Rs 60,000 in her possession the day she went missing. This amount did not come from her family. The agency did not probe her friends in detail.

James also stated in the petition that there was a suspect in the case. Meanwhile, the CBI maintained their investigation was thorough. Jesna went missing on March 22, 2018, from Mukkoottuthara in Pathanamthitta. The CBI took up the case after the local police and Crime Branch investigations failed to make any breakthrough.