Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday quashed the Trial Court’s order acquitting all the three accused in the sexual abuse and murder of two sisters in Walayar of Palakkad and ordered for retrial in the case while considering the appeals filed by the children’s parents and the State government.
The verdict was given by the division bench comprising Justices A Hariprasad and M R Anita. The accused have been ordered to be present before the trial court on January 20. The court also said that the prosecution can move to the trial court to file petition for reinvestigation in the case if needed.
Earlier, the Special Court set up under the POCSO Act had acquitted the accused stating lack of evidence on November 25, 2019. Pradeep Kumar, one of the accused who was acquitted, was later found hanging in his house on November 20 last year.
The Walayar Sisters, aged 13 and 11 were found hanging at their home on January 13, 2017 and March 4,2017 respectively. Both the girls were found dead in the same manner from the same spot of their house. Questions were raised from different parts as to how a 11 year old could hang herself from a height of 8 feet. After it was clear that the police failed in carrying out the investigation in a right way, department level action was taken against the preliminary investigation team. One of the most sensational cases in the history, the case had put both government and the state police under immense pressure.
