Furore Intensifies After Acquittal of Walayar Case Accused, Govt to Challenge Verdict

Protests broke out at many places in Kerala after the acquittal of all four persons in the rape and death case of two minor girls at Walayar in Palakkad district.

Of the two minor girls, who were siblings belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, elder one aged 13 had been found hanging in her house on January 13, 2017. Following that, on March 4, 2017, the younger one aged 9 had also been found hanging in her house.

The postmortem reports of both the girls revealed that both were assaulted sexually and the autopsy report of the younger one even pointed towards the probability of homicidal hanging. However, the police who were in charge of the investigation, allegedly did not explore the angle of murder and submitted the final report against the four accused with offences abetment of suicide, rape and unnatural sex under the Indian Penal Code and penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO act.

On September 30, the special POCSO court, Palakkad, acquitted one of the accused Pradeep Kumar. Others, V Madhu, M Madhu and Shibu, were also acquitted by the special court on October 25. A 17-year-old minor boy is the last accused in the case. The juvenile court will hear his case on November 15.

The acquittal of the accused, however, has led to mass protests and has invited criticism and complaints from many sections of the society. From inefficiency of the team who that probed the case to the failure of the state government -- many reasons are being ascribed by various bodies and political parties to this acquittal. In between, the appointment of advocate N Rajesh, who appeared for the accused for the long time and relinquished later, as the chairman of Child Welfare Committee during the pendency of the trial, triggered massive outrage. Following the protests, Rajesh was removed from CWC.

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The Opposition Congress disrupted proceedings on the first day of the 16th session of the Kerala Assembly, demanding a CBI probe into the matter. Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured the House that the government would seriously consider the matter, the Opposition staged a walkout.

The Kerala Women's Commission has sought action against the officials for their 'lapses' in the case.

The mother of the deceased alleged on Monday that police had tried to sabotage the probe. "We never doubted that police were trying to sabotage the case. Now we feel that they have colluded with the culprits. It was unbearable to see the court acquitting the accused. We were not aware that the verdict in the case would be delivered on Friday," she told a private news channel.

The children's father told reporters that his younger daughter might have been first killed and then hanged.

"She was a kid. She would not have known how to commit suicide," he said.

“I have no hesitation in saying that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the alleged offences against the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” said the Judge Muralee Krishna S, first Additional Sessions Judge, Palakkad, while pronouncing the judgement that acquitted Pradeep Kumar.

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In the judgement, it has also been noted that scientific evidence was lacking in the case.

“No semen or spermatozoa could be collected either from the specimen collected from the deceased girl or from the dresses of the accused. There is absolute absence of scientific evidence to connect the accused with alleged offence," read the judgement.

The statement from the forensic surgeon who performed the postmortem of the girl had been in the favour of the accused. Dr Priyatha had said that the anal injuries detected at the time of the cross examination could be beacause of some anal infection. Based on this statement, the court observed that there was no conclusive proof to establish that the girl was subjected to anal penetration.

Chief minister Vijayan, however, said on the floor of the Assembly that the government would examine if there are any such lapses and will decide about re-investigation or CBI probe. The government would challenge the verdict and seek the service of an experienced lawyer, the CM added.

(With PTI inputs)