Socio-cultural and political activists from across the State got together at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi hall in Thrissur on Wednesday to express solidarity with the survivor in the actor-rape case.
The speakers at the meeting expressed concern over the way the judicial system has been dealing with rape cases.
“Survivors in rape cases have been repeatedly complaining about the traumatic experiences in court rooms. They say that they have to endure more violence during the trial. The democratic system itself is in peril when the judiciary, the police and the government fail to provide justice for rape survivors,” said social activist Kusumam Joseph.
Justice for the actor would come as a solace for rape survivors in society, film personality Bhagyalakshmi said. There had been efforts to sabotage the case at each stage of the investigation in the past five yeas, she said.
Social activist Asha Unnithan read out the petition submitted by the actor to the Chief Minster expressing her concerns over the ongoing judicial procedures. People, who attended the meeting, signed the petition in solidarity with her.
Judicial apathy
“Women and girls are always victims of the judiciary’s apathy. Justice has been denied indefinitely for them in sexual violence cases,” said writer and social activist Sara Joseph. Coming down heavily on the government, Ms. Joseph and social activist K. Ajitha criticised the government’s decision to change the head of the investigation team at a crucial point of the investigation. The governments were responsible for the appalling condition of our women, they said.
Various cultural programmes, including folk songs, theatre performances, dance and music marked the event , Cultural Kerala with the survivor.
People’s protest
The get-together was organised in the wake of allegations from various corners against the procedures in the trial court. The situation calls for people’s protest, said a statement issued by the organisers of the programme.
The protesters expressed concern over the allegation that the memory card was tampered with while it was in the custody of the court. Both the survivor and the prosecution have raised the allegation before the Kerala High Court.
“Two Public Prosecutors have already resigned alleging that the court refused to record their statements. Currently, there is no Public Prosecutor in the case. There was an allegation that the former State Police Chief Loknath Behera tried to torpedo the case. Even when the survivor expressed her confidence in the government, her concern over the future of the case is clear. The civil society has the responsibility to stand with the survivor until she gets justice,” the statement said.
Eminent people from various walks of life, including K.T. Jaleel, K. Ajitha, Vaishakhan, V.S. Sunil Kumar, Byju Kottarakkara, Sithara Krishnakumar, C.S. Chandrika, V.M. Girija, Maithreyan and C.R. Neelakandan, participated in the programme.
