BJP Women Workers Barge Into Kerala Top Cop's House, Allege Lapses In Murder Probe

BJP Mahila Morcha activists on Saturday barged into the premises of the official residence of DGP Sheikh Darvesh Sahib in Thiruvananthapuram, alleging lapses in the police probe into the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Vandiperiyar in Idukki.

A fast-track special court for the trial of offences under the POCSO Act on Thursday acquitted the accused in the case, saying that the "prosecution failed to establish all the circumstances which are consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence."

The protesters pushed open the gate of the DGP's residence, located in Vazhuthacaud, and tried to move forward, raising slogans.

Though police personnel, who were on duty at the official residence, blocked them, the Mahila Morcha activists, the women's wing of the opposition BJP, were not ready to withdraw and continued their sloganeering.

Later, women police personnel from the nearby station rushed to the spot and removed them by force.

The DGP was reportedly present at the house when the protest incident happened.

While being shifted to the vehicle, the protesters could be seen asking the women police personnel to support them to get justice to the hapless girl who was raped and killed.

The arrest of the Mahila Morcha activists were recorded, Museum Police said.

After the acquittal of the accused, opposition parties and their outfits came out criticising the police alleging lapses in their investigation.

The girl was found hanging inside her house on June 30, 2021 when her parents went out for work in a nearby plantation. Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death, but the autopsy report confirmed that the child was raped before she was hanged.

In its verdict, the special court said that in this case, the investigating officer (IO) adopted a "lethargic attitude" throughout the investigation.

It also said that the "unscientific way of collecting evidence without showing the shrewdness and intelligence reasonably expected from an investigating officer seriously affected the prompt and timely collection of evidence in the case".

Soon after the verdict, the Kerala police said they would go for an appeal in the case.