Published 21:43 IST, October 26th 2020
Walayar Case: Parents of victims demand HC-monitored reinvestigation; go on protest
The parents of the Walayar sisters have decided to sit on a week-long protest in front of their house in Kerala's Palakkad.
- India News
- 3 min read
Awaiting justice for their daughters after more than three years, the parents of the Walayar sisters, who were allegedly found hanging after being sexually assaulted, have decided to sit on a week-long protest in front of their house in Kerala's Palakkad. The parents are demanding a High Court-monitored reinvestigation into the case.
Visiting the homes of the parents, the Opposition including LOP and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and state BJP President K Surendran have alleged that the state government was 'protecting' the culprits.
"The victim's parents visited the Chief Minister on my instructions and he has offered all support. Why did the Chief minister step back from his promise? The Government and police are sabotaging the case," BJP state president K Surendran said.
"What is the difference between Hathras and Walayar. The incident that happened in Hathras also happened in the land of Kerala where there are cultured and literate people with high sense of democratic rights. The culprits are being protected by the Government," said Chennithala.
Nearly 11 months after Kerala High court allowed a retrial plea in the Walayar rape case, the mother of the deceased minor girls has demanded justice for her daughters, asking for the culprits to be hanged and strong action to be taken against the police officers who had 'sabotaged' the case. The protest is being organized by Justice for Walayar sisters forum.
What is the Walayar rape and murder case?
As per reports, in January 2017, a 13-year old girl was found hanging from a house in the Walayar region of Palakkad in Kerala. She was allegedly sexually abused over a long period of time. Two months later, her 9-year old sister, who had allegedly spotted two men running away from the crime scene at the time of her sister's death, was found hanging at the same place. The local police arrested five people - V Madhu and M Madhu (victims' relatives), Shibu (former co-worker of the parents), Pradeep Kumar (a neighbour) and a juvenile, for 'unnatural death'.
The postmortem report concluded that the ‘death was by hanging’ and mentioned no injuries in the genitals, however, it noted, ‘anal orifice appeared stretched with multiple mucosal erosions at margins with pustular areas at places’. In course of the trial, the POSCO judge had raised doubts regarding the truthfulness of the depositions’, ruling that as 'no semen could be collected either from the specimen collected from the deceased girl or from the dresses of the accused, there s absolute absence of scientific evidence to connect the accused with the alleged offence'. The acquittal of the accused caused massive protests, with locals alleging that the state government has been complicit in helping the accused. The mother of the victims has also openly expressed the same, according to reports.
(With Agency Inputs)
Updated 21:43 IST, October 26th 2020