A two-decade wait for justice continues

In 2005, police said the 21-year-old nursing student died by suicide, but her family still awaits justice, alleging rape, murder, and a cover-up.Thrissur, Kerala: Nearly twenty years after the death of nursing student Jeesamol P Devasia (21), her mother Binny Devasia is still fighting for justice.On December 5, 2005, Jeesamol, a final-year nursing student at the San Jose Parish Hospital in Pavaratty, Thrissur, was found dead inside her hostel room.Hostel authorities claimed she had taken her own life after being caught cheating in a model examination. Her family has always alleged otherwise: that she was raped and murdered, and that evidence was destroyed to protect influential persons linked with the college. The years that followed took a heavy toll on Binny. She lost her husband in a train accident during the long struggle and says she received anonymous threats. When her remaining two children moved abroad for safety, she intensified her campaign for justice. With only an elementary education, Binny taught herself to read English police files at night with a dictionary, sold property to pay legal fees, and sought support from activists and lawyers, but insisted she would not stop.A disputed caseOn the evening of December 4, Jeesamol had been studying outside on the hostel verandah. She told her friends she would continue until she fell asleep and then lie down. Exams were due in a few days.The next morning, according to the college, she sat for a model exam, was allegedly caught copying, and committed suicide. Jessamol’s family has disputed the college’s claim. “Why was a model exam being conducted twice? And why would a student who was preparing so diligently kill herself?” asked her uncle and local guardian, Antony Chittattukara, who lived barely three kilometres away from the nursing college.The family also raised doubts about the college’s story. College authorities said she attended church that morning and came to the exam in the same dress she had worn the previous day, in which she was later found hanging.Antony, who could have reached the college immediately, was not informed of the incident. By the time he and Binny reached the hostel, Jeesamol’s body had been washed, her dress changed, and the room cleaned. Hostel authorities claimed they had to wash her because she had defecated.Antony later said they saw tubes used to administer glucose tied around her neck before the body was removed. Auto drivers who rushed to the hostel were forced out as the room was locked. Binny alleged: “Instead of preserving evidence, they destroyed everything.”Binny Devasia shows a photograph of her sitting by her daughter's grave; Over the years, as the case changed hands between local police, the crime branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation, she intensified her campaign for justice (Photos by Jessy Thuruthel)  Gaps in evidenceThe post-mortem examination, conducted at Thrissur Medical College, had also raised concerns of Jessamol’s family.It did not record the time of death or fully examine wounds and signs of assault. The report noted only a superficial wound on her hand, and no injury to her neck, spine or spinal cord.But lab tests showed a different picture. A chemical analysis at the Kakkanad government lab showed spermatozoa in her vaginal swab and smear, and semen in her underwear. Jeesamol’s blood group was O positive, but the clothes bore traces of B positive blood. Police later dismissed these findings, calling them lab errors, and failed to identify whose blood it was, Antony said. The ligature allegedly used for hanging was never preserved. A forensic examination in Thiruvananthapuram in 2007 found several anomalies: one strap of her bra was missing, her wristwatch was recovered later with broken glass and a torn strap, and there were traces of blood on the hostel door. Another student, Twincy, testified that someone had pushed her door open, and she later saw bloodstains and dripping handprints. But the room and door were cleaned before the police arrived, the family alleged.No investigation was conducted on the basis of these findings, they added.Devika Prasad, who heads the Police Reforms Programme at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), said the gaps in evidence preservation mirror a larger failure to follow nationally recommended forensic protocols.“What proper DNA and evidence-collection processes should look like in rape or suspicious-death cases is clearly laid out in the Health Ministry’s 2014 guidelines, issued after the Delhi gangrape,” she explained. “Unfortunately, these were not in place during Jessamol’s time.”She added that while criminal law has since been reformed in 2013 to strengthen investigative steps in rape cases, and again in 2023–24 to formally include the role of forensic investigators, implementation continues to lag.“Besides changing law and procedure, there are fewer efforts to actually increase infrastructure to enable better investigations through forensics,” Prasad said. “And this is a major systemic gap.”Systemic patternsThe concerns raised by Jeesamol’s family are similar to the patterns in criminal investigations across India, where early lapses at crime scenes, contradictory forensic reports and poor documentation have derailed cases before they reach trial.One of the most cited examples is the 2008 Aarushi Talwar case, where investigators allowed journalists and onlookers to enter the home before securing the crime scene. Crucial forensic samples were contaminated or mishandled, bloodstain patterns were not properly recorded, and a pillow cover bearing the DNA of domestic worker Hemraj was misplaced. Years later, the Allahabad High Court overturned the parents’ conviction, noting that the prosecution’s case had collapsed under the weight of investigative inconsistencies and missing evidence.In November 2025, the Supreme Court acquitted the main accused, Surendra Koli, in the last pending Nithari murder case. The court found that key forensic links were unreliable, confessions were tainted, and statutory procedures were not followed. The bench observed that after years of inquiry, the identity of the actual perpetrator could not be established to legal standards because the initial investigation had failed to preserve and substantiate evidence.Devika said that the destruction or contamination of crucial evidence is not only a recurring feature in many such cases, but also an area where accountability is almost absent.“If evidence is destroyed or tampered with, there should be legal consequences for those responsible,” she said. “But in reality, this rarely happens. The fact of evidence being tampered with or destroyed can only be established through judicial proceedings, and by then, years have passed.”She added that accountability ultimately depends on “good lawyers and judges who are willing to examine these issues closely,” making justice even more difficult in cases where early lapses have already compromised the investigation.SuspectsThe family has accused Father Paul Payyappilly, then director of the San Jose Nursing College, Principal Sister Modesta SABS, Sisters Elizabeth, Warden Elisa, and Tutor Linta of being involved in a cover-up.Binny has alleged that Payyappilly purportedly raped Jeesamol. They alleged that SI Vijayakumar, Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police K. Suresh and Baby Vinod, and even hospital doctors colluded in destroying evidence.Antony recalled: “Suresh first insisted Jeesamol’s blood group was B positive. But her admission form and her previous surgery records showed it was O positive, same as the rest of the family. By the time he admitted the mistake, the evidence was already destroyed.”The family also alleged that photographs of the body, taken at Minerva Studio in Pavaratty, were seized by police before they could see them.Legal journeyBinny told 101Reporters that her struggles began immediately after Jeesamol’s death. Over the years, she has seen the case change hands between local police, the crime branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The long battle has left Binny physically weakened. She has been in and out of hospitals, but continues to search for another lawyer willing to reopen the case.The local police had declared the case to be that of suicide, while the CBI submitted a closure report saying that the case could not be proved. The family challenged the closure report in the Kerala High Court. Advocate K Ramakumar represented them for 15 years, but Binny says evidence provided under the Right to Information Act – including reports showing semen in the vaginal swab and B-positive blood on clothing – was never effectively argued. “We gave every proof to our lawyer, but nothing happened,” she said.In December 2017, the High Court dismissed the plea. A reinvestigation request was rejected in November 2022. In March 2023, the Supreme Court too dismissed the case, upholding the CBI’s conclusion of suicide.The High Court’s judgment had noted there were no signs of struggle or forced entry, medical opinion suggested self-inflicted wounds, polygraph tests of suspects were negative for deception, and discrepancies in forensic reports could be due to contamination.Advocate Sajeev T Prabhakaran, who represented the case later, said: “This could have been proved as murder at the very first stage. But once evidence is destroyed, no higher court can deliver justice.”This story was produced for and originally published as part of the Crime and Punishment project in collaboration with Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

How Kutti Care is giving children in this Kerala village purpose and its elders presence

A panchayat in Pathanamthitta turns children into palliative companions for the bedridden elderly.Pathanamthitta, Kerala: Every few days, KS Devananda (16) and M Malavika (15) hop on their bicycles in Ward 11 of Kerala’s Nedumpuram gram panchayat in Pathanamthitta district, riding a few kilometres to visit the homes of elderly patients.  On a recent morning, their first stop was the house of Krishnakumari (77) in Ward 6.Until a couple of weeks ago, Krishnakumari was confined indoors after a fall six months ago but now she can manage to walk up to the door using a walker. Her only son works abroad, her daughter-in-law has a job, and her grandchildren are away at school. Most days, she is alone. “Though a home nurse comes, she’s busy with other tasks. But when these children visit, it lifts my spirits,” she told 101Reporters. “Talking to them gives me a kind of positive energy that helps me deal with my loneliness.”Devananda and Malavika are among the first volunteers of Kutti Care — children palliative volunteers — a unique initiative by the Nedumpuram gram panchayat in collaboration with the Nedumpuram Ayurveda Dispensary. It aims to pair elderly and ailing patients with young volunteers from the community, not for medical help, but simply for time, conversation and connection.Glimpse of the Kutti Care team (Photo - Jessy Thuruthel, 101Reporters)Building a bridgeBoth children have been involved with the programme for three months and say that the experience has transformed them. Devandana, who is a Class 12 student at Devaswom Board Higher Secondary School, Kavumbhagam, said: “My mother Maya is a ward member, so I had already visited houses with her before. I love talking to people. If my presence makes someone happy, that’s a blessing. I feel proud to be part of Kutti Care.”Malavika, a Class 10 student at MGM Higher Secondary School, added, “Krishnakumari Amma loves reading and talking about the Puranas and Itihasas. She shared so much wisdom and life experience with us. She even told us to keep visiting again and again.”After leaving Krishnakumari’s home, Devananda continued her rounds with her mother, this time visiting Manoharan (81), a bedridden patient. Though he spoke little to Devananda, she said, “He opened up more with my mother. I want to visit again and become friends with him. Then maybe he’ll talk to me too.”The patients appreciate these visits not only as a break from loneliness but as a bridge between generations. “These days, children don’t often spend time with the elderly,” Krishnakumari said. “This project builds compassion in them. It’s good for both patients and children.”Kutti Care diary that the students use (Photo - Jessy Thuruthel, 101Reporters)How Kutti Care took shapeThe idea for Kutti Care came from Dr Abinesh Gopan, an Ayurveda doctor at the Nedumpuram dispensary and an active member of a palliative society in his hometown, Vallamkulam. Inspired by the model of “one volunteer for one patient,” he proposed a similar initiative tailored for children, especially as an antidote to the rising influence of drugs among youth.Nedumpuram panchayat, with a population of nearly 13,000 across 3,420 families, lies in a state grappling with a growing drug crisis. In 2024 alone, Kerala recorded 27,701 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 — three times the number in Punjab. “If we don’t monitor teenagers, we risk losing an entire generation,” said Kochi-based psychiatrist Dr CJ John. “Peer groups are often the entry point into substance use.”“I noticed how easily children are getting pulled into substance use,” Dr Gopan said. “So I wanted to give them something meaningful to focus on. Kutticare is built on that idea: ‘Let service be your addiction.’”The panchayat extended full support to the initiative, which requires no official financial allocation. Dr Gopan personally covers expenses like snacks for the children, while printing costs are borne by the dispensary’s hospital committee. So far, around 25 students from Classes 8 to 12 have signed up.The project kicked off with an introductory meeting on April 4 at the Nedumpuram Government LP School, attended by Panchayat President Prasanna Kumari, Vice President Sylesh, and Ward member Maya. Sixteen students and their parents were present. By the next meeting on April 16, the number of children had nearly doubled.Building compassionTo prepare students for their roles, Kutti Care began with introductory sessions on palliative care, led by project head Dr  Gopan. Around 25 student volunteers from Classes 8 to 12 have been grouped ward-wise across the 13 wards of Nedumpuram gram panchayat.Their first assignment was to survey and identify bedridden patients in their areas. While the Palliative Care Department already maintains a list of 113 such individuals, this exercise is meant to train the children in patient interaction and community engagement. In the second phase, they cross-checked their findings with the existing data to develop observation and documentation skills.Each volunteer also received a Kutti Care diary to note down their visit details, thoughts, or even sketches. These are reviewed monthly. Every three months, top-performing students, judged on the number of visits, patient feedback, and overall involvement, are recognised with small prizes. Dr Gopalan explained children are encouraged to visit one or two patients once or twice a month, with no strict rules on the duration. Palliative nurse Suchithra praised the model for addressing two major challenges: lack of volunteers and lack of patient engagement. “In a busy place like Thiruvalla [municipality], nobody has time for the bedridden. However after 5–6 visits, the children build a rapport, and the patients start opening up. Kutti Care has helped us bridge that gap.”Nedumpuram Gram Panchayat President Prasanna Kumari said, “Children often lose their way because they lack purpose. Through Kutti Care, we want to instill the value of service in them.” Vice President Shailesh added that the Kerala government is considering grace marks for palliative care volunteers, similar to schemes for NCC or the Student Police Cadet programme.Child Welfare Committee Chairman Advocate N Rajeev also endorsed the initiative, calling it a response to a larger social crisis. “Today’s children often lack empathy because everything comes easy. Volunteering like this shows them what it means to use their life and health for others.”The first assignment for the students was to survey and identify bedridden patients in their areas (Photo - Jessy Thuruthel, 101Reporters)More than extracurricularFor many volunteers, Kutti Care is not just an extracurricular activity—it’s a personal mission. “Serving others is something I love the most,” said Avani, a student in Class 8. “I took this decision on my own. I like talking to elderly people. I believe this will help me in my studies and in building my personality.”Malavika, who joined the project entirely by choice, echoed this sentiment. “Even if I don’t get grace marks, I will continue this work. I believe in the power of service,” she said.For the patients, this service offers something simple: presence. Many are bedridden, nearing the end of their lives, and struggling with both physical pain and emotional isolation. When a child sits by their side, listen to their stories, and simply spend time with them, it breaks the silence and brings them comfort.But the benefits go both ways. By visiting the sick and elderly, the children begin to understand the realities of vulnerability—and their power to bring relief. They don’t provide medical treatment, but they observe, listen, and report any concerns to healthcare professionals. First-aid training is optional and offered on request.ChallengesHowever, Kutti Care faces some logistical challenges. The most pressing is communication. “Most students don’t have phones. We often have to reach them through their parents, who may be daily wage workers and can’t always pass on messages in time,” said Dr Gopan.Currently, Dr Gopan is the only person handling the initiative. With 13 wards in the panchayat and growing volunteer interest, he plans to establish ward-level leadership teams after the monsoon, supported by local elected members. A monitoring committee is also on the cards, along with a full-day workshop and a “passing out” ceremony during the upcoming Onam holidays.However, the spirit of the programme persists. “If children are involved in this kind of service early on, it will not just help their families in the future—it will help the whole country,” Rajeev said. “This project sows the seeds of empathy.”Cover Photo - At the Kutti Care diary release event (Photo - Jessy Thuruthel, 101Reporters)