P.J. Kurien suffers setback in Suriyanelli gangrape case

Kerala High Court today directed the state government to file a statement regarding details of cases filed by the Suriyanelli rape victim against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien before the magistrate and higher courts.

The direction in this regard was issued by a division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and justice Vinod Chandran on a PIL filed by Kamala Sadanandan, General Secretary of Kerala Mahila Sangam, a wing of the CPI.

The PIL sought a direction to the state and DGP to conduct investigation against Kurien in the light of the victim's allegation against P.J. Kurien.

The petitioner submitted that in 1996, when the incident took place, the victim, a minor girl, was raped by 40 odd persons. She has been alleging since 1996 that Kurien was one of the perpetrators of the crime. Despite such a heinous crime, no FIR was registered at the instance of political clout of Kurien, the petitioner submitted.

The inquiry report in favour of Kurien cannot be taken into consideration as it was not based on an FIR or in terms of CrPc, she said.

Earlier, the court had directed the petition and state government to address their arguments regarding maintainability of the petition. The petition has been posted after the court vacation.

Kurien had maintained that all allegations against him had been cleared by the High Court and Supreme Court.

On March 2, a local court had rejected a plea by the victim for a fresh probe into the alleged involvement of P.J. Kurien in the case, holding there was no new ground for a fresh investigation.

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