{
 "record_id": "CW-1958-0005",
 "status": "current",
 "merged_id": "CWC-1234",
 "alias_merged_ids": [],
 "display_title": "Kottayam Police Head Constable v. State of Kerala",
 "display_title_redacted": "Kottayam Police Head Constable v. State of Kerala",
 "state": "Kerala",
 "district": "Kottayam",
 "district_at_time": null,
 "city_town": "Kottayam",
 "police_station_or_unit": "Kottayam East Police Station",
 "court": "Kerala High Court",
 "court_as_verified": "Kerala High Court",
 "bench": null,
 "case_title": "Kottayam Police Head Constable v. State of Kerala",
 "case_number": "Criminal Appeal No. 102 of 1958",
 "citation": "AIR 1959 Ker 372",
 "judges": [
  "Koshi C.J.",
  "Vaidialingam J."
 ],
 "judgment_date": "1958-12-17",
 "date_precision": "day",
 "judgment_year": 1958,
 "incident_date": "1957-01-29",
 "incident_year": 1957,
 "category": "Custodial death",
 "admin_category": "brutality",
 "admin_subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory": "custodial_death",
 "subcategory_display": "custodial death",
 "protest_override_heuristic": false,
 "outcome_type": "conviction_upheld",
 "sections": [
  "IPC 323"
 ],
 "officers": [
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Head Constable",
   "role": "convicted",
   "unit": "Kottayam East Police Station",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Head Constable, Kottayam East Police Station"
  },
  {
   "name": null,
   "rank": "Head Constable",
   "role": "convicted",
   "unit": "Kottayam East Police Station",
   "publish_grade": "unnamed",
   "gate_reasons": [
    "ledger:no_row",
    "key2:no_row"
   ],
   "ledger_role": null,
   "key2": null,
   "key2_agy": null,
   "key2_claude": null,
   "key2_union": null,
   "key2_gemapi": null,
   "key2_openrouter": null,
   "key2_gpt56": null,
   "grok": null,
   "jev_risk": null,
   "jev_p_culpable": null,
   "key2_gpt": null,
   "later_outcome": null,
   "name_public": null,
   "display": "Head Constable, Kottayam East Police Station"
  }
 ],
 "officer_count": 2,
 "victims": [
  {
   "age": null,
   "gender": "male",
   "name": null,
   "descriptor": "Kottayam man"
  }
 ],
 "victims_redacted": null,
 "anonymised": false,
 "victim_count": 1,
 "sentence_type": "imprisonment",
 "sentence_max_years": 1,
 "compensation_inr": null,
 "force": "state_police",
 "primary_source_url": "https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/549809/ramakrishna-panicker-appellant-hash-state-of-kerala-respondent/",
 "secondary_sources": [
  "https://www.the-laws.com/encyclopedia/browse/case?caseId=118591182000&title=ramakrishna-panicker-vs-state-of-kerala"
 ],
 "summary": "The judgment of the Kerala High Court records the following account. On 29 January 1957, head constable took the drunk a Kottayam man into custody and had him lodged at Kottayam East Police Station, where both accused head constables beat him with fists, elbows and blows to the feet until he collapsed; a Kottayam man died when his diseased spleen ruptured. The Sessions Court convicted accused 1 under Sections 304(2) and 323 IPC and accused 2 under Section 323 IPC. The Kerala High Court believed six constable eyewitnesses that both officers joined in belabouring the detainee, but held death was caused only by the rupture of an unknown diseased spleen. The court altered accused 1's conviction to Section 323 IPC with the maximum 1 year's rigorous imprisonment and confirmed accused 2's 6-month sentence. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.",
 "summary_verified": "On 29 January 1957, head constable took the drunk a Kottayam man into custody and had him lodged at Kottayam East Police Station, where both accused head constables beat him with fists, elbows and blows to the feet until he collapsed; a Kottayam man died when his diseased spleen ruptured. The Sessions Court convicted accused 1 under Sections 304(2) and 323 IPC and accused 2 under Section 323 IPC. The Kerala High Court believed six constable eyewitnesses that both officers joined in belabouring the detainee, but held death was caused only by the rupture of an unknown diseased spleen. The court altered accused 1's conviction to Section 323 IPC with the maximum 1 year's rigorous imprisonment and confirmed accused 2's 6-month sentence.",
 "court_quote": "The sentence has necessarily to be altered, but regard being had to the fact that accused 1 was misusing his position as a police officer to assault a helpless person whom he had taken into custody, we think it proper to sentence him to the maximum sentence prescribed for the-offence u/s 323, namely, rigorous imprisonment for 1 year.",
 "court_quote_para": "10",
 "confidence": "high",
 "verdict": "accept",
 "verdict_note": "HC judgment verified on CourtKutchehry; custodial beating convictions of two head constables sustained (A1 altered 304(2) to 323).",
 "verification_status": "V2",
 "verification_badge": "V2 · Externally reported",
 "tier_badge": "Externally reported",
 "tier": "Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded",
 "tier_history": [
  "Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded"
 ],
 "allegations": [
  {
   "category": "Custodial death",
   "primary": true,
   "position": "Material fact supported",
   "position_explainer": "Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.",
   "official_finding_relation": "supports allegation"
  }
 ],
 "institutional_response": [
  {
   "date": null,
   "action_type": "Conviction",
   "status": "Concluded",
   "authority": "Trial court (as recorded in the Kerala High Court judgment)",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "The trial court convicted the accused police personnel, as recorded in the Kerala High Court judgment.",
   "disposition": "Conviction · Supports allegation",
   "source": "AIR 1959 Ker 372",
   "recheck": "Not yet re-checked."
  },
  {
   "date": "1958-12-17",
   "action_type": "Order issued",
   "status": "Concluded",
   "authority": "Kerala High Court",
   "independence": "External",
   "legal_effect": "Binding",
   "description": "The Kerala High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the convictions of police personnel.",
   "disposition": "Conviction · Supports allegation (appellate affirmance; trial conviction separate card)",
   "source": "AIR 1959 Ker 372",
   "recheck": "Not yet re-checked."
  }
 ],
 "later_proceedings": [],
 "final_outcome_url": null,
 "followup_history": [
  {
   "date": "2026-09-19",
   "scope": "Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass",
   "method": "skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl)",
   "result": "holds",
   "corrections_applied": []
  }
 ],
 "followup_status": "checked",
 "last_checked": "2026-09-19",
 "link_checked_per_url": [
  {
   "url": "https://www.courtkutchehry.com/judgements/549809/ramakrishna-panicker-appellant-hash-state-of-kerala-respondent/",
   "link_checked": null
  },
  {
   "url": "https://www.the-laws.com/encyclopedia/browse/case?caseId=118591182000&title=ramakrishna-panicker-vs-state-of-kerala",
   "link_checked": null
  }
 ],
 "source_assessment": {
  "established": null,
  "basis": null
 },
 "v3_basis": null,
 "publication_basis": null,
 "reviews": [],
 "retracted": {
  "is_retracted": false
 },
 "fidelity_checked": true,
 "verified_by": [
  "chunk-115"
 ],
 "merged_case_id": "GAP3-64-001",
 "officers_named_public": 0,
 "record_flag": null,
 "service": "police",
 "watch": "babuwatch"
}