Police suo motu book Muslim youth for kidnapping after bike ride with girl; mother comes to rescue

Kasaragod: At 11 am on Tuesday, Sreelakshmi R*, a roadside eatery owner, and Divya Varghese*, a young nurse at a private hospital, came to the Kasaragod Sessions Court, hoping at least the judge would hear them out. Kerala Police would not listen to them. They wanted to make it clear that Sayyid Hiban Muhammed (23), an operation theatre technician from Lakshadweep, neither kidnapped nor misbehaved with 17-year-old Nandana P R*, Sreelakshmi's daughter and Divya’s trainee at the hospital. (*Name changed to protect identities.)

Sessions Judge Sanu S Panicker, hearing the anticipatory bail application of Muhammed for the fourth time, did not put the women on the witness stand. He ignored public prosecutor Venugopalan P's inflammatory argument that granting bail to Muhammed "would flare up communal tensions in the district because the girl and the man belonged to different religions", and focused on the law. "Taking someone (out) is not an offence unless it is coupled with an intention to commit an offence. As far as this case is concerned, no offence was committed while they were together outside," Judge Panicker orally observed, granting Muhammed anticipatory bail.

Muhammed's case raises troubling questions about moral policing by the Left government's police and prosecution, who bought into a rightwing conspiracy theory and filed a kidnapping case without a complaint, solely driven by prejudice rather than evidence, said Adv Shajjid Kammadam, who represented Muhammed in the court.

'Police, BJP pressured me to implicate Muhammed'
On September 13, the hospital where Sayyid Hiban Muhammed and Divya Varghese worked celebrated Onam. After dinner, Nandana, who had joined the hospital for a two-month internship before starting nursing college, asked Muhammed to take her on a motorcycle ride around town, said Divya. "She made the request while we were all sitting together after the celebration," Divya said. Around 12.45 am on September 14, the two left the hospital on a motorcycle and returned two hours later, she said.

But their night outing was given a "communal twist" by several staff members aligned with the BJP, said Divya. As the chatter grew louder, the hospital's managing director on September 19 wrote to the Kasaragod Vanitha Police, requesting them to "discreetly inquire into the incident."

But within hours of receiving the letter, the Vanitha Police registered a suo motu FIR booking Muhammed for kidnapping a minor under Section 137 (2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. "There was no complaint. The girl's family did not have an issue. Neither did the hospital," said Adv Kammadam.

The girl's mother Sreelakshmi told Onmanorama that she had told the police that she did not have any complaint. The girl, now 18 years and in a nursing college, also gave a confidential statement to a judicial magistrate saying they went out together with her consent, and it was just a joy ride in the night.

"But BJP leaders came home and pressured me to implicate Muhammed. The police also took my statement several times, expecting me to change my stance. But I stuck to my position that the boy was not in the wrong," said Sreelakshmi.

Sreelakshmi's brother then called up the BJP leaders and asked them to back off. But the police did not. "Though we did not have a complaint, the police took my daughter for a medical examination in the hospital. The medical examination also cleared my daughter. Still, the police booked Muhammed," said Sreelakshmi.

In the FIR, Sub-inspector Ajitha wrote she booked Muhammed for kidnapping because she "strongly believed the accused took the girl, who is merely 17 years old, out of the hospital with the intention of abusing her".

When contacted, District Police Chief Shilpa Dyavaiah said the police got an intimation from the hospital "about a POCSO case. As per legal provisions, a case was registered".

To be sure, the hospital's letter mentioned about the "communal twist" given to the motorcycle ride and did not refer to any sexual assault on the minor intern.

On November 27, when the court took up Muhammed's anticipatory bail, public prosecutor Venugopalan vehemently opposed the plea, saying granting bail to Muhammed would create communal tension in the town. But the judge dropped enough hints that there was no case and scheduled it to be taken up for a detailed hearing on December 3.

When the case came up for hearing on December 3, the public prosecutor repeated the communal conspiracy theory but did not oppose the bail plea "because the mother and daughter said they don't have a complaint".

Adv Kammadam said the mother and daughter's statements were with the police when Muhammed moved the court for anticipatory bail on November 20. "The prosecution backed off now sensing the mood of the court," he said, adding that Muhammed will move the High Court of Kerala to quash the FIR.

"I hope today's order means Muhammed won't be troubled by the police anymore. I was also called to the station several times. I just hope they leave us in peace now," said Sreelakshmi.