The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team re-investigating the sensational Walayar case, in which two minor sisters were found hanging in mysterious circumstances in their house at Attappallam near Walayar six years ago, has replaced its members with officers from other States.
The CBI included officers from other States with the hope of bringing a fresh perspective to the investigation. The earlier investigations by the State police as well as the CBI met a dead end because of a lack of scientific evidence to prove that the little siblings were murdered as alleged by their mother.
The woman officer leading the CBI team will, however, continue. The victims’ mother had demanded that non-Malayali officers be appointed for the reinvestigation.
A request by the CBI in a court here for a lie detection test was opposed by the accused, and the counsel for the accused had told the court that they were not willing for a lie detection test. The counsel argued that the POCSO court hearing the case had denied permission when an earlier investigation team sought a lie detection test.
The court is expected to hear the CBI plea for the lie detection test again on Friday.
It was on January 7, 2017, that one of the two sisters (13 year old) was found hanging from a raft in their kitchen. On March 4, 2017, her nine-year-old sister was also found hanging from the same raft. On March 6, police formed a special investigation team and began an inquiry into the deaths.
On March 12, the post-mortem report revealed that the girls had been victims of sexual abuse. However, the police submitted their chargesheet on June 22, 2019, which said that the girls had committed suicide.
Wave of protests
The POCSO court that tried the case here set free all the accused as the prosecution failed to prove the murder and their involvement in the death of the girls in separate judgments on October 9 and October 25, 2019. The exoneration of Pradeep Kumar, V. Madhu, M. Madhu and Shibu, however, triggered a wave of protests.
The government was forced to seek a reinvestigation. The High Court ordered that the CBI re-investigate the case.
The POCSO court here rejected the chargesheet of the first CBI team, saying that it was a “carbon copy of the State police chargesheet”, and asked the CBI to investigate afresh with a new team.
