Palakkad: The fourth accused in the rape and death of the two minor Dalit girls in Walayar in Kerala's Palakkad district was hospitalised after being attacked by an angry mob.
M Madhu (Kuttimadhu), who was acquitted by the trial court earlier, told the police some locals thrashed him following an argument at Attappallam on Friday night. An injured Madhu was taken to the Palakkad District Hospital by a police team who arrived at the spot after the incident.
The motive behind the attack is yet to be ascertained. Madhu's injuries are not of severe nature.
The elder sister was found dead on January 12, 2017, and two months later, on March 4, the younger nine-year-old girl was found hanging in the shed outside the house at Shelvapuram in Attapallam near Walayar. Post-mortem reports suggested they were sexually assaulted.
The police had arrested five persons for rape, sexual assault and abetment of suicide after the incident. They were charged under stringent provisions of the POCSO act.
However, the First Additional Sessions Judge (Special POCSO Court) of Palakkad district had acquitted three of the accused – V Madhu, M Madhu and Shibu – for want of evidence on October 28. The court had earlier acquitted another accused – Pradeep Kumar – on September 30. It has not pronounced the verdict on the fifth accused yet because the trial is on in a juvenile court. The verdict has exposed lapses in the investigation and cast aspersions on the government and Kerala Police.
After the public outcry following the acquittal of the accused, the Kerala government had decided to set up a committee headed by the chief secretary for effective handling of cases relating to sexual exploitation of children.
The girls' mother in her plea to the high court had said the court acquitted the accused persons who were charge- sheeted for rape and abetment of suicide, disbelieving eyewitness accounts. The trial court dealt with the case in a most casual manner and it failed to take an active role in the trial process to ensure that a fair trial was conducted, the woman contended in her plea.
The acquittal of the accused had led to a lot of anger and protests by political parties and NGOs as they alleged the "Kerala police deliberately conducted a bad investigation to help the accused come out of the case."
