A POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences) court here on Friday set free three men who had been accused of raping two sibling girls and abetting their suicide at Attappallam, near Walayar, in the district.
The case had acquired sensational proportions as the police officers who investigated it initially had faced the allegations of helping the accused.
Additional District Judge (I) S. Muraleekrishna, who is the POCSO judge in Palakkad, exonerated V. Madhu, alias Valiya Madhu, 27, from Attappallam; Shibu, 43, from Rajakkad, Idukki; and M. Madhu, 27, alias Kutty Madhu from Pampampallam; as the prosecution failed to prove their involvement.
There were five accused in the case. One of them, Pradeep Kumar, was earlier set free by the court. The fifth accused is a minor, whose trial will come up before a Juvenile Court next month.
The girls’ mother was apparently heartbroken on hearing the judgment. “It’s unbearable,” she said crying in despair. She said neither the lawyer nor the policemen had told her about the date of the judgment.
The case
The two siblings were found hanging in their house at Attappallam on different days in 2017. When the 13-year-old girl was found dead on January 13, 2017, her nine-year-old sister was found hanging on March 4, 2017.
The police launched an investigation after the postmortem reports said that both of them had been raped.
A police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police M.J. Sojan had made the final investigation and prepared the chargesheet.
The sub-inspector of the Walayar police station had faced suspension for ignoring pieces of evidence. A departmental inquiry had been ordered against a circle inspector and two Dy.SPs in connection with the case.
The suicide of a man who had been questioned by the police too added sensation to the case.
