Kottayam: The forensic doctors on Monday deposed before the Principal Sessions Court here in the Kevin murder trial that it was not accidental drowning and he was conscious when immersed in the Chaliakara river.
That was why both parts of his lungs contained blood-stained fluid. In the right side of the lungs, there were 170 millilitres and in the left portion 150 millilitres.
The doctors who deposed include V.M. Rajeev, additional professor of forensic medicine at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital and Dr Santhosh Joy, who conducted the postmortem there.
Dr K. Sasikala, head of the forensic medicine department at MCH, Thiruvananthapuram, who led a team which inspected the scene of the death, deposed before the court that Kevin cannot fall directly into the river as there was a sloppy, rocky land. She ruled out the possibility of acc-idental or suicide drowning, pointing towards the possibility of homicide. The court saw the video of the place where body was found in the river.
The video shows that the river water was at feet level. The prosecution also examined a scientific officer of the forensic sciences lab in Thiruvananthapuram. So far, the prosecution examined 97 witnesses and presented 136 exhibits and 44 material objects.
