Kerala govt decides to vest Walayar sexual assault case probe with CBI

Days after the KeralaHigh Court ordered a retrial in the sensational Walayar case,the LDF government on Monday decided to hand over to the CBIthe probe into the death of two minor sisters after allegedsexual assault in 2017.

The decision was taken based on the request of the familyof the children, a senior official in the Chief Minister'sOffice (CMO) told PTI.

Allowing appeals filed by the state government and themother of the children, the high court had on January 6ordered a retrial in the case, observing that there wereserious lapses in the investigation and that there has beenmiscarriage of justice.

A division bench of Justices A Hariprasad and M R Anithahad set aside a October 2019 order of POCSO (SpecialProtection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) courtacquitting the five accused in the case for want of evidence.

The eldest of the siblings aged 13 was found hanginginside their hut in Walayar in Palakkad district on January13, 2017 and the younger sister (9) on March 4 the same year.

Both were allegedly sexually assaulted.

The mother of the girlshad earlier sought a CBI probe.

Public outcry and protests had erupted in the state afterthe acquittal of the accused, seeking justice to the family ofthe girls.

The state government had on November 18, 2019 removed thePublic Prosecutor who handled the case and later filed theappeal in the high court.