The Kerala High Court, on Monday, called for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to clarify its position regarding the chargesheets filed against the parents of two minor Dalit girls, who were tragically raped and later found dead in their home in Walayar near Palakkad in 2017. Justice C Jayachandran issued a notice to the CBI following a plea from the parents seeking to quash the chargesheets that list them as accused.
The central agency has charged the parents under multiple sections, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code, citing abetment of rape, unnatural offences, and cruelty to a child. These charges came after an extensive investigation, which concluded with six chargesheets filed earlier this month.
The parents have contested the charges, arguing that the chargesheets should be quashed and demanding further investigation into the possibility that their daughters’ deaths were homicides. They claim that the investigation was flawed, basing accusations on unreliable witness statements and failing to explore all potential leads, including the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of three individuals linked to the case—Pradeep, Madhu alias Kutti Madhu, and John Praveen.
The tragic case dates back to 2017 when the two sisters, aged 13 and 9, were found hanging in their one-room thatched house within a span of 50 days. Initial investigations led to the arrest of five individuals, who were later acquitted, prompting outrage and a demand for a CBI probe by the victims’ mother. The CBI’s investigation suggested that the sisters committed suicide due to trauma from repeated harassment.
The petitioners have criticized the CBI’s handling of the case, alleging that the agency has unjustly tried to conclude the matter as a case of suicide by selectively using evidence to support this theory. They argue that the relationship between the petitioners and the accused has been exaggerated and misrepresented in the investigative reports.
