Kochi : Police to seek custody of Martin Joseph

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 Kochi would submit a custody application for the accused, Martin Joseph, on Monday.
Police are collecting information about the antecedents of the accused. Sources said that till Saturday evening, the investigators have not received any new complaints against him.
City police had on Friday released a notice urging the public to contact them in case they have any complaints against this person.
A senior police officer said that the accused seemed to be a delinquent person in general.
“In both the cases registered against him, the women were familiar to him. In the original case, he started torturing her after staying together for several months. In the complaint by the second woman, she was known to him and he attacked her, probably while trying to find a refuge in her house. Both the attacks had the characteristics of a domestic violence case. Only a thorough probe would reveal the extent of his criminal activities,” said the officer.
City police are also investigating the accused’s luxurious lifestyle involving premium flats and multiple vehicles. Police had seized two cars and a motorcycle from the accused.
Joseph, a Thrissur native, was residing in Kochi and had been on the run ever since police registered a case against him on a woman’s petition. He was finally arrested from Thrissur on Friday.
Police said 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 had escaped from the apartment where she was allegedly locked up.
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.