An Indian court has granted bail to a Kenyan national who is alleged to have attacked eight people with a knife three years ago.
The suspect, according to the Indian Police, is said to have assaulted a passerby, stabbing him in the shoulder and face without any apparent reason. He then proceeded to stab seven other individuals near the Azad Maidan police station.
The man who was apprehended after the incident was charged with attempted murder, causing simple hurt, and causing grievous hurt. Since his apprehension, the man has been behind bars as an undertrial prisoner.
According to the Hindustan Times, the Bombay High Court judge, Justice Milind Jadhav, on Friday, May 9, determined that his trial would not be commencing or concluding in the near future. The man was released on a personal bond of Ksh30,294 (20,000 Indian rupees).
According to the Judge, detaining the suspect further, who had spent three years behind bars as an undertrial prisoner, contravenes his rights to a speedy trial.
“There is no possibility of the trial commencing or concluding in the near foreseeable future. Detaining an under-trial prisoner for such an extended period violates his fundamental right to a speedy trial,” the Judge said.
According to reports, the man who pleaded for bail earlier this year claimed that he was undergoing mental treatment during the time of the incident and further claimed that there were material inconsistencies in witness statements.
The announcement comes days after another Kenyan woman was apprehended at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) after she was caught trying to smuggle liquid cocaine into the country.
According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the drugs were detected inside two bottles of moisturising lotion in her bag.
According to authorities, the bottles held approximately 1.57 litres of the drug worth around ₹15.71 crore (about Ksh238 million in current exchange rates).
"A total of 1.57 litres of liquid cocaine have been seized, which is valued at around ₹15.71 crore in the illicit market. The female passenger has been arrested under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. We are investigating to find out who was supposed to receive the consignment in India," a DRI official told the Indian publication.
"The modus operandi involved concealing liquid cocaine in moisturising lotion bottles, as the viscous appearance of the substance closely resembled that of actual lotion," it added.
