Thiruvananthapuram

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court in Palakkad on Wednesday ordered a fresh probe into the deaths of two Dalit sisters in Walayar village in 2017, after rejecting a CBI charge sheet that states they were driven to die by suicide.

The central investigating agency had filed a charge sheet two months ago agreeing to the conclusion of the state police that the girls were driven to suicide because of repeated sexual harassment but their mother had moved the court saying the case was not probed properly and the central agency came to the conclusion without a thorough probe.

The girls, aged 9 and 13, were found dead inside their one-room house in Walayar 52 days apart — the elder sister was found dead on January 13, 2017; and the younger one on March 4 that year.

The Kerala police had named four people in the charge sheet, accusing them of repeatedly sexually harassing the girls, driving them to death by suicide. The case against the four was filed under relevant IPC sections as well as sections of the Pocso Act in 2019. The Pocso court had freed the four accused.

Welcoming the court’s decision on Wednesday, the mother said, “I firmly believe they will not commit suicide. Both were murdered. I feel I will get justice finally”.

According to the CBI charge sheet, the girls died by suicide out of intolerable pain and agony caused by multiple instances of unnatural sex committed on them by the accused.

While releasing the accused in 2019, the Pocso court had passed severe strictures against the investigating team. After widespread outrage, the Kerala high court took up the case suo motu, but proceedings were stalled again after the government announced a judicial commission.

Over the course of the trial, several lapses also came to light. Lawyer N Rajesh, who represented one of the accused in the case, was later appointed as the district child welfare committee president, a body aimed at protecting rights of children.

During the trial, several witnesses also turned hostile. After a huge outcry, the case was handed over to the CBI in 2021.

The mother of the girls contested against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the 2017 assembly elections in north Kerala.

In March, she released her autobiography ‘Njyan Walayar Amma, Peru Bhagyawathi’ (I am Walayar mother, my name is Bhagyawathi) in which she alleged a bid by the higher administration to cover up the investigation.

(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to a mental health specialist.) Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918

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