A man named Safar Shah who worked at an automobile service centre was sentenced to double life imprisonment in a 2020 case for sexually assaulting and killing a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Gopika from Thuravoor by a special court on 4th October in Kerala’s Kochi. The victim was a plus-two student and four months pregnant.

The accused was found guilty of kidnapping the victim from Kaloor before sexually violating her at a tea farm in Valparai after which he ended her life on 7 January 2020. Judge K Soman of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court in Ernakulam pronounced that he shall remain behind bars for the remainder of his natural life for the heinous crime of rape and impregnation of the minor. He was incarcerated in 2020.

According to section 5 (j)(ii) of the Pocso Act (for raping and impregnating a minor girl) and section 302 (for murder) of the Indian Penal Code, the court sentenced him to life in prison for all of the charges. The court reportedly ordered him to serve a total of five years in prison for the crimes of kidnapping the girl and destroying evidence under the Indian Penal Code with the stipulation that he would first serve these two sentences consecutively before beginning his life sentence. It also assessed the prisoner a fine of Rs. 2.5 lakh.

The background of the crime

The 32-year-old was having an affair with her and sexually abused her several times from August 16, 2019. He had gone to the Gulf and returned after her insistence and begun to work as a s driver in Kochi. She, however, had no desire to continue their relationship and started making arrangements for raising the child by herself which fueled his resentment and animosity towards her.

Gopika left her home in Ernakulam near Kaloor for school as usual, but instead climbed into Safar Shah’s stolen car and the two drove about the city. They left for Athirappilly in the evening, covered the area along with Vazhachal, entered the thick forest and arrived in Valparai late at night.

He lured the young female away from her school in a vehicle by stressing that he had something to say to her after she disengaged from their relationship and promised to bring her back in the evening. She was abducted by him under the guise of bringing her to Athirappilly Waterfalls in Chalakudy Taluk of Thrissur District and stabbed to death with a knife on the way because she withdrew from their friendship. He was apprehended on his way back from the tea estate.

The dead body which was dumped in a coffee plantation in Valparai was later discovered by the police in school uniform. Her parents registered a complaint with the Kochi Central Police when she failed to return from her school. Her father told the authorities that Safar Shah had harassed and intimidated her by morphing her photographs. The Central Police registered a case and forwarded the information to other stations.

The culprit wasn’t initially considered a suspect in the investigation of the missing girl, however, he was caught during an inquiry into car theft. He had driven her to Valparai in the vehicle from his workplace.

Blood stains were inside the four-wheeler when it was stopped and inspected at the checkpoint. The specifics of the murder were revealed after the offender was nabbed and interrogated. The corpse was also uncovered later that night. He was found to be behind the murder based on circumstantial proof.

The girl was four months pregnant and had been sexually assaulted prior to the horrific event, according to the autopsy report. A DNA test established that she was impregnated by him. She was attacked severely in the chest and abdomen by him who then killed her. She had four serious chest wounds as well as more than twenty little and large ones on her body. He expressed no regret over his gutwrenching action and admitted that he killed her with a knife after she rejected his love and abandoned the deceased in the coffee garden.

The proprietors of the auto repair shop where he worked in Ernakulam’s Maradu district had reported a stolen vehicle to Maradu police as well as cited his disappearance. The Marad checkpoint was traversed by the stolen car before it entered Tamil Nadu, per information provided to Malakappara police. Malakappara is a border town between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Malakappara cops rushed after him after learning his whereabouts on his mobile device. The Valparai checkpoint was also made aware of the situation.

Valparai is another hill resort in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu. The vehicle was halted by Valparai police before it landed at the checkpoint, but the girl was not found inside upon inspection. Smears of blood were spotted and he was taken into custody.

Safar Shah made an attempt to trick the Malakappara police team and led them on a wild goose chase in search of the body of the student who disappeared in Kochi. They searched for four hours before eventually locating it in a Valparai coffee farm. Murder, torture and charges related to the POCSO Act were brought against him.

He received bail from the high court on 12 May and was given permission to leave the prison on 19 May because the investigating official failed to submit the chargesheet within 90 days. Later, it turned out that the charge sheet was submitted, but the counsel made wrong submissions for the accused and the prosecution in the court. The incident led to major controversy as many believed that the decision was a result of misleading the court.

The government apologised for its “inadvertent” error and asked that the court return his bail application. Furthermore, concerns were voiced that there was a substantial possibility that he would pressure the prosecution’s witness. The court acknowledged the aforementioned problems and revoked the bail along with ordering his arrest. However, ten days had already passed and the criminal was on the loose in the society.