Clean Chit For P J Kurien By Kerala HC

23 October 2013
Kochi

The Kerala high court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien for conducting a detailed inquiry into his alleged involvement in the 1996 Suryanelli sex scandal.

A single judge of the high court dismissed the petition filed by the rape survivor from Suryanelli in Idukki. She was 16 when she was abducted, taken to various places and sexually exploited by at least 40 people. She has alleged that Kurien was one of the people who had raped her.

Repeated police investigations in the past had found Kurien to be not involved in this case. He was exonerated by the Supreme Court in 2007 and was not among the 35 men tried for the woman’s rape by the Kerala high court.

The petitioner was seeking a detailed investigation against Kurien on the basis of revelations made by Dharmarajan, a lawyer, who is the only person convicted in the case, and serving a life sentence.

In February, Dharmarajan had told a regional TV channel that he had driven Kurien to the Kumili Guest House where the gang-rape survivor alleges she was assaulted by Kurien. He had later retracted his statement.The judge hearing the plea maintained that a fresh inquiry could not be ordered based on Dharmarajan’s statement.

The victim had moved the high court after a sessions court in Idukki dismissed her plea in June. Kurien has termed allegations against him as ‘political conspiracy.’ The rape survivor insists the police did not investigate him long or hard enough because of his political clout.

Source– http://www.business-standard.com

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