Who is Govindachami, the convict who made Kannur jailbreak?

India Today

5 days ago

The momentary escape of Govindachami, a notorious convict serving life sentence in a 2011 case of rape-murder of a woman, from the high-security block of the Central Prison in Kannur on July 25 has exposed major lapses in jail security in Kerala.While Govindachami was apprehended within hours, his jailbreak left the authorities shocked and embarrassed. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered a probe and four Kannur jail officials were suspended. Deputy prison officer I. Satharkunju of the Kottarakkara sub-jail was also suspended over his claim in an interview to a Malayalam TV channel that he had prior information about Govindachami's jailbreak plan.advertisementGovindachami, who has only one hand, navigated the iron rods in his prison door, climbed a 7.5-metre-high wall using empty barrels, deactivated the electric fence and escaped. CCTV visuals revealed he had changed from his prison uniform.Preliminary investigations found that the suspended officials—assistant prison superintendent Rejo, deputy prison officer Rejish and assistant prison officers Sanjay and Farid—had made serious lapses in their duties. The officials were asleep and nobody had monitored the CCTV cameras when the jailbreak happened.
'It's not easy to escape from this prison in Kerala. It has CCTV surveillance, particularly in the high-security block where Govindachami was housed, and a perimeter wall topped with an electric fence. Was the electric fencing not working? The prison is supposed to have regular rounds by wardens within and patrols outside the walls at night. Rigorous bed checks are also supposed to be conducted, particularly for high-risk prisoners,' a former senior prison official who had a posting at the Kannur jail told INDIA TODAY.Govindachami, 44, alias Charley Thomas, a native of Virudhachalam in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, hit the headlines in February 2011 with the rape-murder of a 23-year-old woman who worked in Ernakulam. He had assaulted the woman on a train, pushed her out, dragged her away and raped her. Found by local people, she died in hospital.After committing the crime, Govindachami took a bus to Thrissur and then a train for Chennai. The Railway Protection Force in Palakkad rounded him up during a drive against ticketless travel. He was released the next morning, but eventually arrested for the rape-murder by the Kerala police from Aluva railway station. Police found him to be a habitual offender who had already served jail time at least eight times in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.A fast-track court in Thrissur sentenced Govindachami to death in October 2011; the Kerala High Court upheld the verdict. But in 2016, the Supreme Court set aside the murder charges and altered the conviction to rigorous imprisonment. The state government's review petition was dismissed by the top court.Govindachami's childhood was marred by family crises. Father Arumughan had served as a havildar in the Indian Army. He died in a road accident in 2014. His mother worked as a porter. After retirement, Arumughan became an alcoholic, denying the family money for a decent living. Govindachami's mother became a psychiatric patient.advertisement'Govindachami had a troubled childhood. Medical examination found he had an insatiable sexual urge and would find victims in slums, railway compartments, railway stations and the streets—mostly poor women,' said retired IPS officer B. Sandhya, who had headed the police investigation in the 2011 rape-murder case.According to Sandhya, Govindachami never regretted his crimes. 'When we apprehended him in 2011 after five days of massive hunt across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he pretended to be innocent. It took almost four hours of interrogation to crack him,' she said.After the arrest, Govindachami has been transferred to the Central Prison in Thrissur and is being kept in a single cell under high surveillance. Yet, his jailbreak has come to signify as a taint for the Kerala jail department forever.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends