Kerala Doctor Murder: Accused Moves HC Seeking Bail

Sandeep, the sole accused in the brutal murder of 23-year-old house surgeon Vandana Das, has approached the Kerala High Court seeking bail.

The case is before the single bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A.

In May 2023, Dr. Vandana Das, a house surgeon on duty at Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital, was allegedly stabbed multiple times by Sandeep, a school teacher. Sandeep, the alleged attacker, was brought to the hospital by the police for treatment of his injuries. The prosecution’s case is that during his treatment, Sandeep turned violent and attacked Dr. Das with dressing room scissors. It is alleged that despite Dr. Das’s attempts to flee the attack, Sandeep followed her and continued to assault her.

Sandeep was charged with offenses under Sections 341 (‘Punishment for Wrongful Restraint’), 324 (‘Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means’), 333 (‘Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter a public servant from his duty’), 307 (‘Attempt to murder’), and 302 (‘Punishment for Murder’) of the IPC. These charges are read in conjunction with Sections 4 and 3 of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2012 (Prohibition of violence and penalty for the violation of the same), and Section 5 of the Kerala Prevention of Damage to Private Property and Payment of Compensation Act, 2019 (‘Punishment for committing a damaging act’).

Sandeep claims that the investigating agency declined to provide him with legal assistance. He further alleges that even in Court, he was unable to freely communicate with his lawyers.

He further asserted that the entire allegation against him is a ‘cooked up story’ by the Prosecution and that there is no prima facie case made out against him. He states that he is innocent and was arrested merely based on suspicion by the Police.

The petitioner also contends that at the time of the act, due to unsoundness of mind and under the influence of sedative medicines, he was incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that what he was doing was wrong or contrary to law.

Sandeep avers that no police officer has the right to leak out information regarding the investigation’s outcome until the final report is filed in Court. He claims that the police in this case violated these norms.

“The facts remain unchanged, the cases may attract either justifiable or uncalled-for media publicity, and there is a tendency among certain sections of the public to draw sustenance, even from unconfirmed sources, including the police, to bolster their garbled versions. The petitioner submits that this must be considered at the time of the bail petition,” the plea states.

Sandeep adds that to invoke Section 302 IPC, there must be an intention to cause death, which is not evident in the present case. Therefore, Sandeep argues that since he did not cause Dr. Vandana’s murder, his further incarceration is unnecessary.

The plea has been moved through Advocates B.A. Aloor, K.P. Prasanth, Archana Suresh, Haritha Hariharan, and Ailin Elezabeth Mathew.