PALAKKAD: The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the CBI has taken over the 2017 Walayar case pertaining to the rape and murder of two minor Dalit sisters in Palakkad district. Initiating the probe, the agency filed two separate FIRs under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act before the special court here on Thursday.
Charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been included in the FIRs. The suspected offences include rape, unnatural offences, abetment of suicide of child, assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty and repeated penetrative sexual assault. The accused are Madhu alias Valiya Madhu, 27, of Kallankad, Shibu, 43, of Rajakad in Idukki, and Madhu alias Kutty Madhu, 24, of Pudussery East village. The fourth accused, Cherthala native Pradeep Kumar M, died by suicide on November 4 last year. The fifth accused in the case was a minor, aged 16 at the time of the crime.
Meanwhile, the girls’ mother said she was happy about CBI’s takeover of the case. “Four years have passed since the incident. There should not be any more delay in delivering justice. Action should also be taken against the police officials who committed lapses in the probe,” she said. As a mark of protest over the government’s alleged inaction against those who had probed the case, she is contesting the assembly polls from Dharmadam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s constituency. The two girls, aged 13 and nine, were found dead 52 days apart. The teenager was found on January 13, 2017, and her sister on March 4.