A ccused to remain in custody as court reserves bail order

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after senior advocate Beyline Das (48) was remanded in judicial custody for allegedly assaulting junior lawyer Syamili JV (26), a court has reserved its order on his bail plea until Monday.

The judicial first-class magistrate court (JFCM) -12 considered the bail application on Saturday and posted the matter for orders. As a result, Das will remain in custody until Monday. The bail plea was originally filed at JFCM Court-11 on Friday, the day Das was produced before the magistrate following his arrest. However, due to the absence of the magistrate at Court-11 on Saturday, the matter was taken up at Court-12. It will return to Court-11 for the final decision on Monday.

Meanwhile, an audio clip attributed to Syamili surfaced on social media, reportedly shared in the WhatsApp group of lawyers. In the clip, Syamili is heard expressing disappointment over how a section of the bar association allegedly turned against her and circulated baseless stories to tarnish her image.

"I am not blaming everyone in the bar association. But, some of them are cooking up baseless stories and propagating information they have no knowledge about," she says in the recording.

"In a WhatsApp group, which had over 600 lawyers as members, the issue came up for discussion and I was blamed. I had to respond emotionally and the audio was circulated outside the group. Victim blaming should not happen in such cases as it is painful and worrisome," Syamili later said while talking to media persons.

Following the leak, the bar association reportedly issued a directive instructing all its members to refrain from discussing the case in WhatsApp groups and similar forums.

Syamili said that she already feels a sense of justice, especially with the arrest and remand of the accused. "I'm grateful for the support from everyone – the media, police, bar council, bar association, and all other individuals and organizations. While I was criticized in a lawyers' group for supposedly thanking only the media, I want to clarify that my thanks extend to everyone who helped me."

She also expressed concern about the potential influence of the accused on office staff, who are witnesses in the case. "I am not worried about who will stand by me. I've already received justice," she said.