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Social justice minister raises questions on probe into Kerala rape and murder
Union social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot on Tuesday slammed the police and local administration for their alleged laxity in probing the rape and murder of a woman.
Union social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot on Tuesday slammed the police and local administration for their alleged laxity in probing the rape and murder of a woman.
A 30-year-old Dailt law student was raped and murdered on April 28 in Perumbavoor, Ernakulam, Kerala. The incident sparked condemnation in the country with many drawing parallels with the 2012 Nirbhaya case in New Delhi.
In a report presented to parliament on Monday, Gehlot, who met the deceased’s family in Kerala, indicated that there is an attempt by the state administration to shield the perpetrator.
“The FIR was registered a day after the crime was committed; rape charges where added much later,” he said.
According to his enquiry, Gehlot said, the deceased’s mother complained to the police against the local MLA who used to harass her daughter, but then the police never took any action.
“The SP also agreed that the deceased had complained but could not tell me why no action was taken. It has been more than 12 days and the accused has not been arrested,” Gehlot said.
The minister added that the autopsy report states the incident happened between 1pm and 4pm but police reached around 10 pm.
“Probe started with the murder charge; relevant sections of rape were added later. The postmortem report came after four days; evidence could have been lost in the meantime. Also, the SCST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was added after four five days. There have been serious irregularities,” he said.
