Suryanelli rape: No basis to reinvestigate PJ Kurien- Kerala court

mangaloretoday.com/NDTV

Idukki, Kerala, March 2: A court in Kerala today rejected the plea that Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson PJ Kurien should be reinvestigated in the Suryanelli rape case, in which a 16-year-old girl was abducted and raped by 42 men in 1996.

 

Mr Kurien, a Congress politician, was exonerated by the Supreme Court in 2007. Last month, the rape survivor, now 33, filed a petition in an Idukki court that he was one of the men who assaulted her and should be made an accused.

The court today said that in light of state Director General of Prosecution T Asif Ali’s report, there was no basis for a reinvestigation against Mr Kurien.

The woman is likely to challenge the verdict in the Kerala High Court. She had last month also approached the police to file a case against Mr Kurien but it was turned down.

In 2005, the Kerala High Court tried 35 men in the case and convicted only one - a lawyer named Dharmarajan. This January, the Supreme Court set aside the verdict and ordered a re-trial within six months.

Since then, there has been a clamour by the opposition in Congress-ruled Kerala and at the Centre for Mr Kurien’s resignation. The 72-year-old leader has refused to step down, saying he was cleared by the Supreme Court. The union government has also defended Mr Kurien, telling Parliament that three separate police investigations had cleared him.

The Kerala High Court is from tomorrow likely to take up the bail pleas of 25 accused in the case.