Charge sheet filed against BJP leader in abuse case

KANNUR: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has submited a fresh charge sheet against a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the sensational Palathayi sexual abuse case in which a 10-year-old girl of Palathayi UP School, near Panur, was allegedly sexually abused by her school teacher.

According to the charge sheet, submited in the Thalassery Additional District Court, there are scientific evidence against the accused Kuniyil Padmarajan, 45, the teacher and local BJP leader who is out on bail. DYSP Ratnakumar, who heads the SIT, submited the charge sheet.

Acting on a plea by the victim’s mother, Kerala High Court had appointed a new team to investigate the case.

Local police and Crime Branch team, headed by IG Sreejith, had invited the wrath of public for allegedly trying to save Padmarajan. The court had directed police to appoint an official with IG rank to supervise the investigation and to drop IG Sreejith from the team.

Last month, the SIT had claimed to have found forensic evidence to prove that the child was sexually abused.

The forensic examination of blood sample collected from the floor tiles inside the teachers’ wash room on the school premises where she was allegedly abused, had confirmed that the sample matched with that of the girl.

The class 4 girl had stated that she was sexually abused by Padmarajan inside the school toilet and she had bleeding. On the basis of this statement, the tiles in the toilet and the soil were subjected to forensic examination.

As per the girl’s statement, the accused called her to the school on a Saturday, which was a holiday, saying that a special NSS training session would be held and that she should atend it.

When she reached the school, she was taken to the toilet and sexually abused. She also said that the teacher threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident to anyone.

A controversy erupted ater a Crime Branch police team led by IG S Sreejith found no evidence against the school teacher ater the incident came to light in March last year.