Flat torture case: Kochi cops seek Martin Joseph’s custody

KOCHI: City police probing the apartment torture case in which a woman was restrained, tortured and sexually assaulted in an apartment at Marine Drive in the city on Monday submitted a custody application for the accused Martin Joseph.
Ernakulam central police said that the court would consider the application on Tuesday. Sources said that the investigators have sought seven-day custody of the accused who was remanded in judicial custody on Friday.
Police had found that the accused had attacked women familiar to him in both the cases registered against him so far.The original case pertains to Joseph brutally torturing his live-in partner. A Thrissur native, Joseph was residing in Kochi and according to the police, the accused had been in a live-in relationship with the survivor for several months before he allegedly became violent and started torturing her during the last months of 2020. The victim had filed a complaint on April 8, a month after she escaped from the apartment where she was allegedly locked up. Before his abusive behaviour began, the survivor had invested Rs 5 lakh in stock market dealings of the accused.
In this case, he was booked under sections 376 (rape), 344 (wrongful confinement for 10 days or more), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means or weapons) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC.
Even as Joseph was on the run in connection with the torture case, another case was registered against him at the Vanitha Police station in Kochi city based on a complaint by a Kakkanad-native woman that she was assaulted by him as he wanted to stay at her apartment.
Police found that he had gone to her flat to stay in hiding, due to the other case, and he forcefully stayed there for some time. A case for assault and using criminal force against a woman and outraging her modesty was registered in connection with the incident.
“Both attacks had the characteristics of a domestic violence case. Only a thorough probe would reveal the extent of his criminal activities. We will interrogate him about his source of income and how he was able to lead a luxurious lifestyle involving premium flats and multiple vehicles. He would also be taken to the apartment where the crime took place and to the locations where he stayed in hiding,” said an official, adding that a probe is also on to find if the accused had committed other similar crimes.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)