Idukki: The CPM has decided pay back the Rs 5 lakh loan taken by the family of the Vandiperiyar rape victim. They had borrowed the money in 2019 for a relative's marriage.
The family mortgaged 14 cents of the land at Peermade Taluk Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development Bank but ceased repayment after the death of their six-year-old in Vandiperiyar here.
The liability, including arrears, now amounts to Rs 7 lakh. CPM State Secretary M V Govindan will hand over the funds to the family on January 31, said CPM Peermade area secretary S Sabu.
The six-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered in 2021. She was found hanging in a room at the estate layam (settlement huts of estate workers).
The incident was first considered as a suicide by cops, however, the accused Arjun, 22, a local DYFI worker, was later arraigned in the case with charges of rape, murder and sections of the POCSO Act.
The prosecution claimed that the accused had been sexually exploiting the girl since she was three years old by luring her with chocolates. The accused, who was close to the girl's family used to sexually abuse the child when both her parents went out for work.
In December last year, the accused was acquitted by the Special Fast Track Court in Kattappana. The court observed that the police did not have sufficient evidence to incriminate the accused.
