The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation into the death of two minor sisters in Walayar as directed by the Kerala High Court on March 19. The two girls, aged 13 and nine, were found dead inside their one-room home 52 days apart in Walayar. The eldest of the siblings was found hanging inside their home at Walayar on January 13, 2017 and the younger sister on March 4 was found in the same manner. As per the post mortem report, the girls were subjected to sexual assault. The CBI Thiruvananthapuram unit will be carrying out the probe into the case. Two FIRs have also been registered in the POCSO court in Palakkad.
The cases related to the deaths of the sisters have been registered as separate FIRs and charges of rape and other offences are included in the FIRs.
The petition seeking the CBI investigation into the case was moved by the victims' mother. In January, the high court had ordered a re-trial in the case, considering a plea challenging order of a special POCSO court in Palakkad, acquitting the five accused for want for evidence.
The girls' mother has been on protest to punish the officers who initially investigated the case for allegedly sabotaging the investigation. She announced that she would stand as a candidate against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadom in the upcoming Kerala Assembly Polls. She is contesting as an independent candidate. Contesting in the upcoming elections would give her the opportunity to raise her voice against the CM who had not kept his promise to stand by her family, she said.
The mother of the two girls had tonsured her head on February 27 protesting the alleged inaction against the accused officers who had “botched” the initial investigation. She received a frock as the symbol for the upcoming Assembly polls. As the image of ‘frocks hanging from the branch of a tree' was commonly used to demand justice for the two girls; the children's mother had requested that the symbol be given to her as an election symbol.
