KOCHI: The CBI special court in Kochi on Saturday sentenced seven defendants in Nedumbassery human trafficking case rigorous imprisonment ranging from seven to 10 years and a fine of Rs 1.02 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh. The case is connected to trafficking women from Kerala to countries in the Gulf region for commercial sex trade by promising them jobs during 2009-2012. The first three accused, K.V. Suresh, 52, Lissy Sojan, 47, Sethulal, 51, and A.P. Maneesh, 36, got ten years of rigorous imprisonment. Suresh, Sethulal and Maneesh were to give a fine of Rs 2.54 lakh while Sojan Rs 2.04 lakh.
Suresh belongs to Valappad and Sojan from Thalappilly in Thrissur district. Sethulal is from Lokamaleswaram and Maneesh Kodungalloor in Thrissur district. Anilkumar V., 45, Vattappara in Thiruvananthapuram, Bindu P.V., 31, Kattappana, and Santha, 46, Punaloor got seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.02 lakh each. They were all sentenced under various sections of IPC including Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
Citing lack of sufficient evidence, judge S. Santhosh Kumar acquitted six - Sudharman K., 61, Thiruvananthapuram, Varghese Raphel, 48, of Maradu, Ernakulam, Kabeer P.K., 58, Chavakkad, Thrissur, Siraj, 48 of Chazhoor, Thrissur; S Musthafa, 70, Kilikollur, Kollam and Tahira of Thrissur. TA Rafeeque of Kodungalloor and M Rameshan of Chelembra in Malappuram have turned approvers. A suspect, Sheela, is still absconding.
"From the evidence of the victims, it is seen that they were treated as slaves in the UAE by the accused. It is unfortunate and shocking to see that some of the accused in the case are ladies," the judgment stated. "On a reading of the deposition of the victims, there may not be any difference of opinion that no leniency can be shown to the accused. However, a lenient view is taken with respect to accused no 4, 5 and 6 and their sentence is reduced."
The case originated with a woman from Kazhakootam filing a complaint about her harrowing experience in UAE in 2012. She was promised a job as a maid in Muscat with a salary of Rs 20,000-25,000. After landing in Muscat, she was taken to the UAE and forced to flesh trade operated by Suresh, Sojan and Sethulal. The woman managed to escape from and landed in Mumbai, and she was arrested at the airport for travelling on a fake passport. The police in Mumbai handed her over to Kerala police, and she narrated her plight to them. A team headed by CBI inspector Vinod D. investigated the case while Arun K. Antony appeared as a prosecutor for the CBI during the trial.
