Kerala HC trashes plea to probe Kurien in Suryanelli case

The Kerala High Court Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by the victim in the Suryanelli sex scandal case, seeking a further probe against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J.Kurien.

The high court pointed out that even the apex court had cleared Kurien and there's no reason to intervene.

The victim in her plea demanded a further investigation in the case after Dharmarajan, the only accused in the case who was on the run after securing bail, was caught by police a few months back in Karnataka.

Dharmarajan, ahead of his arrest, told a TV channel about the involvement of Kurien in the case, but later testified in the court that he was in an inebriated state at the time of his appearance on television.

He thus gave a clean chit to Kurien and consequently Kurien's name never appeared in the list of accused.

In the late 1990s, a special court found more than 42 people guilty, and the victim then filed a private complaint against Kurien in a court in Idukki district, pointing out that he had exploited her at a guest house in Idukki district.

The sex scandal took place at Suryanelli in Idukki district January 1996, when the then 16-year-old was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor and was later confined and sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men.

The case was back in the spotlight after the apex court ordered a retrial in the case Jan 31 this year, while setting aside the acquittal in 2005 by the Kerala High Court of all but one of the 35 accused convicted by a special court.

All the accused have since been granted bail and are waiting for the case to come up for re-trial.