Kochi: The opposition Congress on Thursday sought a probe into suspected external intervention in the 2021 Vandiperiyar POCSO murder case in which the lone accused has been acquitted.
Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan said the acquittal of the accused despite him confessing to the police has shocked the conscience of the public.
"Rape and murder were proven in postmortem examination. The accused had confessed and the police even collected evidence from crime scene in his presence. So it should be inquired if there was any external interference behind the prosecution filing to prove the charges in court," Satheesan said in a statement.
Arjun, who was accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl was acquitted by the Special Fast Track Court in Kattappana earlier in the day. The court observed that the police did not have sufficient evidence to incriminate Arjun in the case. The police said they would be filing an appeal challenging the verdict.
The Congress leader drew a parallel between the Walayar case, in which two minor girls were allegedly raped and murdered, and the Vandiperiyar incident saying the accused in both the cases were linked to the ruling CPM.
"Evidence were estroyed in Walayar case as the accused had links with the CPM. In Vandiperiyar, the public doubt that the evidence were destroyed as the accused had connections with the DYFI. The verdict underscores that the government is not at all serious about the cases of children's safety," Satheesan said. He said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan owed a reply to the people on the case. DYFI is the youth wing of the ruling CPM.
"Prosecution was totally weak. It was already alleged that the local CPM leadership had helped the accused go into hiding. There was an attempt to bury the child's body without postmortem and it was part of the conspiracy to undermine the probe. It is mysterious that why did the police neglect the girl's family's request to add charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused," he said.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran and senior party leader Ramesh Chennihala also alleged that the police and the prosecution colluded to subvert the investigation.
"Since the beginning there was attempts by the police to undermine the case. Arjun is a local leader of the DYFI. Hence, the CPM interfered in the case since the beginning. The opposition had pointed this out then itself," Chennithala said.
Sudhakaran said the verdict has left the home department, managed by Chief Minister Vijayan, in utter embarrassment. "The accused walked out of the court free as all the government systems were misused for him. It would be apt to say that Vijayan's police protected the accused, close to the ruling party, by erasing evidence," the Kannur MP said.
