Vandana Das murder: Court rejects plea seeking release of accused

KOLLAM: Kollam Additional Sessions Judge PN Vinod rejected the release plea of Sandeep, accused of murdering ​​Dr Vandana Das. The court clarified that all charges including murder, attempted murder, obstruction of official duties, etc. will remain. The accused was ordered to appear in person for the reading of the charge sheet on June 6. The date of the hearing will be fixed on the same day.

The defense argued that the accused should be acquitted due to his mental illness and that there were no witnesses to the murder. At the same time, Special Prosecutor Adv Pratap G Padikkal argued that the Supreme Court judgment of 2023 that the trial court should decide on the release petition on the basis of the documents and testimony produced by the prosecution is applicable to this case. The prosecution pointed out that the accused has no authority to present any kind of evidence while the release petition is considered. The prosecution said that holding Vandana's hands and stabbing her twenty-six times on the chest, face, etc. was an attack with the intent to kill and the accused did not have any mental illness and the actions of the accused after the murder revealed that.

Advocates Sreedevi Prathap, Shilpa Sivan and Harish Kattoor appeared along with Special Prosecutor Adv Prathap G Padikkal.