Walayar Rape Deaths : Reasons Stated By POCSO Court For Acquitting The Other 3 Accused [Read Judgments]

The copies of the judgment pronounced by the First Additional Sessions Court, Palakkad on October 25 acquitting three accused in the rape-deaths of Walayar sisters was released on Friday.The case pertained to death of two sisters, who were subjected to sexual offences. The elder sister, aged 13, was found hanging in her one-room house on January 13, 2017. Two months later, the younger sister, aged 9, was found hanging in her house on March 4, 2017.According to the police, the girls committed suicide due to intolerable sexual assault by the accused persons.There were five accused in the case, including a juvenile. In the case of first sister, the police had filed chargesheet against all the accused - Pradeep Kumar, Valiya Madhu, Kutty Madhu, Shibu and the juvenile Three out of them - Pradeep Kumar, Valiya Madhu and the juvenile - were chargesheeted in the case of second sister. Separate proceeding against the juvenile accused is pending before the Juvenile Justice Board.Pradeep Kumar was acquitted in both the cases by the trial court as per judgments delivered on September 30.(Reports about those judgments may be read here and here).The reasons cited by the Sessions Court for acquitting the remaining accused are mentioned below.Valiya Madhu in the case of first sisterThe accused in this case was chargesheeted for abetment of suicide and unnatural sex without consent under Indian Penal Code and penetrative sexual assault under POCSO ActTo establish that the accused had sexually abused the girl, the prosecution relied on the following evidences :The step father of the girl, who was examined as PW5, testified that one day he saw the accused committing unnatural sex on the girl.The mother of the girl, who was examined as PW6, testified that one day she saw the accused molesting the girl.Grandmother of the girl, who was examined as PW7, said that she saw the accused misbehaving with the girl (But she turned hostile during trial)A friend of the girl, who was examined as PW8, deposed that she had told her about the accused abusing her.The Court however disbelieved the eye witness accounts of the step-father and mother of the victim. In their initial statements given to police, they had not mentioned about them witnessing the sexual abuse of the victim by the accused. According to the judge, it was only in the statements recorded by the new investigating officer, who took over the probe after the death of second girl in March 2017, that they mentioned about the sexual abuse by the accused.The Court did not take into account their explanation that they had suppressed the incident out of concern for the welfare of the girl. "If PW5 and 6 are really bothered about the welfare of the daughter, definitely they would have taken action against the accused, at least after the death of the victim", judge Muralee Krishna S noted in the judgment.The Court also said that there were contradictions in their statements regarding the time of witnessing the sexual abuse by the accused.The Court expressed that there were possibilities for manipulation of their witness statements after the investigation was taken over by DySP M J Sojan.The evidence of PW8 was discarded by court as hearsay evidence. The Court said that the principle of res gestae under Section 6 of the Indian Evidence Act was not applicable to her evidence, as the disclosure by the victim was not contemporaneous with her death. The disclosure made by the victim girl to PW8 is not admissible as dying declaration under Section 32, as the statement was not made in anticipation of death, the Court said.The statement made by the doctor who conducted the post-mortem in the cross-examination that the anal injuries of the girl need not be necessarily caused by penetration but also could be due to piles infection titled the balance in favour of the accused.The Court also observed that there was no scientific evidence to connect the accused to the crime.Click here to read the judgment in this caseKutti Madhu in the case of elder sisterThe accused in this case was chargesheeted for abetment of suicide and sexual assault.Kutti Madhu was a relative of the mother of the girl. The mother of the girl, as PW4, deposed that the accused had stayed at their home one night after the birthday celebration of the younger sister. That night, when she woke up hearing some noises, she happened to see he attempting to disrobe the elder sister. She immediately beat him up with a broom and ousted him from home. The step father of the girl, as PW3, told the Court that he had seen his wife beating the accused with broom that day. When enquired about the reason, his wife told him about the perverted act of the accused.The Court however discarded their evidence. It said that these incidents were not found in their statements given to the first investigating officer. "The evidence given by the investigating officers and the contradictions admittedly there in the statements of PW3 and P4 in the form of...

Walayar Rape Deaths : Reasons Stated By POCSO Court For Acquitting The Other 3 Accused [Read Judgments]

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Walayar Rape Deaths : Reasons Stated By POCSO Court For Acquitting The Other 3 Accused [Read Judgments]

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