There were no lapses on the part of police in the probe into the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl at Vandiperiyar, Circle Inspector T.D. Sunilkumar, investigation officer, has said.
Mr. Sunilkumar told the media on Friday that the incident had occurred on June 30, 2021. “The police sealed the room of the ‘layam’ (cluster home) the same day itself. An inquest was carried out in the presence of scientific and fingerprint experts, and the ‘mahasar’ was prepared the next morning. The scientific expert handed over the blood samples in a sealed cover and the crime scene had no other blood samples,” said the official.
Special prosecutor Sunil Maheshwaran Pillai said the next step was to file an appeal before the High Court. “The appeal will be filed in the coming days. The prosecution wants to ensure justice to the victim. The court had found that it was a murder and that the child was sexually assaulted before the murder,“ he said.
Insufficient proof
“The court observed that the scientific evidence provided was insufficient and that there was no DNA proof. In addition, even minor contradictions in the witnesses’ statements were given much importance by the court,” he said.
Meanwhile, the father of the girl alleged that the police objected to the slapping of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on the accused. “We got a letter from the district tribal office stating that we would not get financial assistance we are entitled to if the case was filed as per the provisions of the Act. I requested the police that the charge be slapped on the accused, but they refused to do so. If the charges of SC/ST Act had been added, the Dy.SP would have to conduct the probe. To avoid the probe, the police decided not to impose the charge,” he alleged.
Cong. to provide legal aid
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan visited the victim’s house on Friday evening. He told the media that the UDF would ensure all legal assistance to the victim’s family. “The court order stated that serious lapses were found on the part of the probe official. There are two options. An appeal can be filed or the family can demand a reinvestigation. The family will take a final decision,” said Mr. Satheesan, adding that the probe official failed to collect scientific evidence in the case.
