Kochi, The Kerala High Court on Monday acquitted the first accused in the 2018 Attappadi Madhu lynching case.
Madhu, a 27-year-old tribal youth from Chindakki Ooru in Attappadi in Palakkad district, was lynched by a mob in February 2018 after being accused of stealing rice and grocery items from a shop.
The High Court also partly allowed the appeal filed by the state against the other accused and enhanced the punishment awarded to the 16th accused.
The court set aside the conviction and sentence of the first accused, Hussain, after finding that the evidence against him was unreliable.
Digital records produced before the court showed that two witnesses who had identified Hussain were elsewhere at the relevant time.
The bench also upheld the acquittal of the fourth and 11th accused, affirming the earlier finding of the Special Court for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Mannarkkad.
