Girls' suicide: Kerala govt accused of shielding guilty party workers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Embarrassing lapses by the police and the prosecution, which led to the acquittal of four accused persons in the death of two young sisters aged 13 and 9 in 2019 in what is known as the Walayar suicide case, have placed the Pinarayi government on the defensive. The accused, allegedly CPI-M workers or sympathisers, were booked for abetting the suicide of the two girls, but let off the hook as the police failed to collect evidence of their involvement. The death of the scheduled caste girls had shocked the state. The police refused to act on the post-mortem report of the elder girl, although marks of sexual abuse and injury were found on her body. With the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP launching state-wide protests over the failure of the state government to pursue the case, the government is finding it tough to fend of serious charges being levelled against its functionaries. Law minister A K Balan has been accused of sabotaging the case to protect party workers. The issue rocked the first two days of the state assembly as the opposition members demanded handing over the case to the CBI. Replying to an adjournment motion on the issue, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the acquittal was shocking and the government would look into the lapses and that the government would appeal against the verdict. He said that action had already been taken against the police sub-inspector who failed take proper action in the case. L Murugan, vice-chairman of National Commission on Scheduled Castes, who visited the girls' home, told newsmen that the state chief secretary and the DGP have been asked to present themselves before the commission to explain the lapses.