PALAKKAD: The police failed to provide scientific, medical or circumstantial evidence to show that it was the accused who were responsible for the death of two Dalit sisters of Walayar who were also sexually exploited. And that was the reason for the acquittal, said defence lawyer Ranjith Krishna.
Ranjith Krishna had represented the accused V Madhu, who had two cases against him, and Shibu, who was charged with one case. He also represented the juvenile accused who is yet to be acquitted. Ranjith said that it was on January 13, 2017, that the elder girl aged 13 committed suicide and her sibling, who was nine, took the extreme step 52 days later. It was the younger sister who first spotted the body hanging. Hearing her sob, others in the house came to know of the tragedy.
The younger sibling was in a state of shock after the incident. The chief welfare officer should have counselled her and tried to extract the reasons for her sister’s death. But nothing was done. Though the elder sibling was found hanging, there was no stool nearby, deepening the mystery as to how she took the extreme step. There were also rumours that it could be a murder. But there were no witnesses, said Ranjith.