Walayar Rape Case: Plea urges Kerala High Court to monitor CBI probe, direct proper investigation

One of the parents of the victims in the Walayar rape case has approached the Kerala High Court to monitor the probe being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case and to issue directions to the central agency to conduct a proper and efficient investigation [xxx v The Central Bureau of Investigation]..The petitioner submitted that the CBI is not paying attention to materials present that indicate the instant case to be one of homicide.The CBI tried to end the matter as a suicidal case, even though the death of two accused persons was highly suspicious and led to the belief that the victim girls had homicidal deaths, the petitioner alleged.The petitioner highlighted that the trial court had also observed that there was callous indifference and negligence on the part of the CBI in conducting the investigation.The plea further alleged that the CBI is trying to submit final reports in haste without properly and efficiently conducting the investigation..“An efficient and proper investigation by the state instrumentality is part of the right to life postulated under Article 21 of the constitution of India,” the plea said.The petitioner contended that they suspect the “sloppy, defective and improper” action of CBI is under the influence of somebody.“The decease girls belong to the scheduled cast and scheduled tribe community, a marginalized section of society. They are helpless to find out the truth behind the incident. Therefore, the interference of this Hon’ble Court is the sine qua non for doing complete justice”, the plea said.Therefore, the petitioner urged the Court to monitor the CBI investigation and to direct the probe agency to look into homicidal angles in the death of the victims, the suspicious death of two persons accused in the case, and the involvement of child pornography mafia in the deaths of victims..Walayar Rape Case.In January 2017, the older of the two sisters involved in the unfortunate tragedy, aged 13, was found hanging inside her home at Walayar by her younger sister, aged 9.The 9-year-old informed the police that she had seen two men leave the house that day and her parents claimed that their daughter had been murdered. However, the police registered a case of unnatural death.Shockingly, 52 days later, in March 2017, the younger 9-year-old sister was also found hanging in the same house.Protests and public pressure led to the arrest of five accused in the case - Madhu alias Valiya Madhu, Madhu M alias Kutti MadhuShibu, Pradeep Kumar M, and a minor who was 16 years old at the time of allegedly committing the offense.The fourth accused, Pradeep Kumar, allegedly died by suicide in November 2020.Post-mortem reports of the girls disclosed that they were subjected to rape before their deaths. This led to the police surmising that they had died by suicide due to the trauma from multiple instances of sexual assault committed on them by the accused.However, this theory was vehemently opposed by the family of the victim girls.In October 2015, a court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act acquitted V Madhu, M Madhu, and Shibu for lack of evidence on October 25. The court had acquitted Pradeep Kumar earlier for the same reason.This led to much public outcry, protests, and several allegations, especially from opposition parties, against the CPI(M) led LDF government which was accused of shielding the accused.Thereafter, the State government appealed against the POCSO court’s verdict and sought a direction from the High Court to call for the records of the case, set aside the lower court judgment, and convict the accused for the offenses or to order a reinvestigation into the crime.The girl’s mother, with the support of an organization of Dalit and human rights activists, also approached the government seeking a reinvestigation. She urged the High Court to direct an inquiry by the CBI as well.In January 2021, a division bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justices A Hariprasad (now retired) and MR Anitha quashed the acquittal of all the accused men and directed a re-trial of all the cases.Later, upon consideration of the State Government's recommendation for a probe by the CBI, the Court ordered the central agency to take up the investigation.By this time, the protests against the inaction had reached a fever pitch with multiple dharnas, satyagrahas, and hunger strikes conducted by the family and social welfare organizations.On January 2022, the court dismissed the bail applications moved by the prime accused in this case and said that he could move the trial court for bail based on the final report submitted by the CBI.