Palakkad: Low conviction rate is often blamed for the increasing number of crimes and lack of fear of law in the minds of many. Lapses on the part of investigators and prosecution often help the accused to be acquitted as had likely happened in the case of a few youth who were recently absolved after being arraigned over the mysterious death of two teen sisters at Walayar in Kerala's Palakkad district in 2017. A special court dealing with crimes against children has reportedly flagged the serious lapses in the investigation into these cases. The court reportedly included the scathing criticism even in the verdict.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court had last week acquitted the three accused in the case. The two girls, aged 13 and 9, were found dead at the same spot of their house within a span of two months. Both of them were reportedly sexually abused.
The judge while letting off the accused had noted that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the case.
Likely flaws
The court verdict underlined the fact that the statements of the girls' parents were not recorded in the first case involving the elder sister and that probe officers ignored the police surgeon's recommendation to investigate the nine-year-old's death even as a murder angle was suspected.
It was also pointed out that the statements of witnesses were taken after the accused were arrested. Only three days after the second child's death, the accused were arrested. While the parents did not give any statement to the police on the first incident, they named the accused in the second case.
The court concurred with the defendant’s argument that the statements of witnesses were recorded after the accused were arrested.
The court also noted that a relative's statement that that the second child complained about sexual abuse one month before her death was not trustworthy.
Without probing the murder angle, it cannot be ascertained that the second child had committed suicide. The articles seized from the accused did not have anything that linked to sexual abuse, the verdict said.
The verdict also mentioned the judgments of the High Court and Supreme Court in other similar cases. The doctor's statements that bruises on the private parts of the first child could have been caused by other reasons also favoured the defendant.
The prosecution had presented 32 witnesses in the case and 33 records in court.
CWC chairman shunted out
The Chairman of the Palakkad Child Welfare Committee (CWC) N Rajesh has been removed from the post after an uproar over his representation of the accused in the Walayar sexual abuse case in court.
The Women and Child Development Department took the action based on an interim report.
Even after he was appointed as the Palakkad CWC chairman, Rajesh had continued to represent the third accused in the case. When the court considered the case in May, Rajesh gave in a leave application stating that he could not appear in court as he had to attend a CWC meet. This confirmed that Rajesh was continuing with the law suit.
Though the government had ignored the complaints then, it was forced to take action after a controversy erupted.
