The mother of the two Walayar girls who had been found hanging in their house at Attppallam nearly seven years ago has demanded action against Central Bureau of Investigation public prosecutor K.P. Satheesan under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Mr. Satheesan, while quitting the special public prosecutor’s post in the Attappady Madhu lynching case in the High Court, had alleged that the Walayar mother had opposed the CBI application for a lie detection test.
The mother said here on Wednesday that she had not opposed the lie detection test, and that she would seek a legal remedy against Mr. Satheesan for spreading a lie against her. Meanwhile, lawyer Rajesh M. Menon, whose name was proposed by the Walayar mother as the public prosecutor in the case, too lashed out at Mr. Satheesan.
He said that he would hang up his lawyer’s gown if Mr. Satheesan proves that the Walayar mother had opposed the CBI request for a lie detection test. He challenged Mr. Satheesan to end his profession if proven otherwise.
Mr. Menon’s statement has triggered a war of words between the two lawyers.
The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act court here trying the Walayar case is expected to take a decision on the CBI’s plea for the lie detection test later this month.
A fresh team of CBI officers is re-investigating the case after the earlier investigations as well as the judgment were rejected.
It was nearly seven years ago that the two sisters of Attappallam aged 13 and nine were found hanging from a raft of their house on different dates. When the 13-year-old girl was found hanging on January 13, 2017, her nine-year-old sister was found dead in the same manner on March 4, 2017.
The post-mortem reports indicated that both girls had been raped. The police investigation found that the siblings had ended their lives. The case, in which rape and murder were alleged, sparked an outrage and invited national attention when the POCSO court here exonerated all the accused for want of evidence in October 2019.
The victims’ mother, with the support of an action forum formed by Dalit and human rights activists, sought a re-investigation. The High Court set aside the POCSO court verdict, and ordered a re-investigation.
The CBI took over the case following an order by the High Court in March 2021. Pradeep Kumar M., one of the five accused in the case, committed suicide on November 4, 2020. He was found hanging in his house at Cherthala.
The POCSO court here, however, rejected the first chargesheet submitted by the CBI, saying that it was a “carbon copy” of the police findings, and ordered a re-investigation by another CBI team.
The victims’ mother is now seeking the removal of K.P. Satheesan as the special public prosecutor in the case. A few days ago, she wrote to the CBI director for the appointment of a lawyer of her choice as the special public prosecutor.
