Two witnesses– Swathi’s father and a bookseller on the Nungambakkam railway platform– have identified Ramkumar as her stalker and assailant 11 days after he was arrested in an identification parade, according to reports.
Over 20 witnesses, including those who were at the station the time when Swathi was murdered were also taken to jail to participate in the identification parade.
Identification Parade
An identification parade was conducted in Puzhal prison on Tuesday morning, reports The Times of India. Swathi’s father Santhana Goplakrishnan was first called in to identify the man who stalked his daughter, from ten men who stood in a line.
Gopalakrishnan identified the man standing fourth from left, wearing a maroon colour shirt and black trousers, as the stalker his daughter had once apparently shown him. It was Ramkumar.
What Is an Identification Parade?
In an identification parade, witnesses are brought to the prison where the accused is lodged, and made to identify the assailant.
Police said they included Gopalakrishnan as a witness because Swathi’s father said that his daughter had shown him a picture of her stalker.
Sivakumar, a bookseller at the railway station, was called in as the other witness. The bookshop was on the railway platform where Swathi was murdered. The husband and wife who run the book shop, man it at different shifts. On 24 June, the husband was on the morning shift. He too identified as the assailant.
Parades and What Court Said
In March this year, the Madras High Court pulled up both media and the police for publishing and circulating photographs of the accused in another case.
If photographs of the accused were published, it could affect the identification parade and ultimately, compromise the trial. The court expressed worry that the person called in for identification may remember the face of accused from pictures on media.
Despite the circular by the DGP instructing the police not to circulate photos, Ramkumar’s photos were published widely. Videos of him after slashing his neck, lying on the hospital bed etc were widely circulated.
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