Thiruvananthapuram: The parents of the two sisters who were found dead in mysterious circumstances at Attappallam near Walayar in Palakkad met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside the Legislative Assembly Complex on Thursday.
The parents have told the Chief Minister that they had no faith in the police investigation and said they wanted a CBI probe into the deaths of their girls.
The Chief Minister was receptive to the request but said it was practically not possible for the government to seek a CBI probe. Nonetheless, he said the government would not oppose if the parents moved a writ petition in the Court seeking a CBI probe.
"The Chief Minister told us that he would do anything for us," the mother told the media after she met Pinarayi Vijayan. "We want justice. No other child should suffer this fate. We have strong faith in the Chief Minister," she said, unable to hold her tears.
The parents were accompanied by Kerala Pulaya Maha Sabha leader Punnala Sreekumar. The team arrived at the Assembly hall by 11am, and they were met by the Chief Minister at around 11.30am. "The Chief Minister heard them with patience and said that the government would do all it can to help them," Sreekumar said. He said the parents wanted to meet the Chief Minister before it takes any decision on the future course of the case.
At the same time, those close to the parents are also worried that they have left the house to meet the Chief Minister on Thursday. Members of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights will begin a two-day visit to Walayar from today.
"When they asked my opinion I had told them to postpone the visit for another two days," said Balamurali, a local ward member who had constantly been by the side of the parents. "However, we hope they will return today itself as there is no other engagement for them in Thiruvananthapuram. The NCPCR members will be hopefully here for another day," he said.
The parents have all this while kept politicians at a distance. The Congress and the BJP leaders have told them that they would them to the Chief Minister. They had politely turned down the offer. Even when organisations like the Youth Congress, Yuva Morcha, SDPI and Muslim League invited them to their protests, they had refused.
They chose to go with Punnala Sreekumar because he was a prominent backward class leader, and was also close to Pinarayi Vijayan. He is the chairman and convenor of the Navodhana Samrakshana Samithi, the Chief Minister's pet social project.
There is yet another reason why the parents have met the Chief Minister urgently. They have been told that it would be virtually impossible to order the re-investigation of a case already settled by a court. A re-investigation can be ordered only in two cases. The accused who had now been freed should make a new confession or somebody else should confess to the crime.
The parents perhaps feared that justice would forever be denied to their girls.
