Rajya Sabha deputy chief writes to Ansari, Sonia

Explains his position in the wake of fresh revelations surfacing in the 17-year-old Suryanelli gang rape case

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien has written to Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who is also chairman of the Upper House, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, explaining his position in the wake of fresh revelations surfacing in the 17-year-old Suryanelli gang rape case.

A convict in the case, who is on the run, recently told a regional news channel in Kerala that Kurien was also involved in the case. The victim has claimed the same.

The case, which had rocked Kerala politics for years, hit headlines again recently when the Supreme Court overruled a verdict of the Kerala High Court, which found just one man guilty. The Supreme Court has ordered the high court to re-examine the evidence presented and present its decision within six months.

The fresh revelations are becoming a major embarrassment for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded Kurien’s resignation from the constitutional post.