Students from Vilavoorkal Government Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram, were suspended for putting up posters seeking justice for the Walayar siblings who were sexually assaulted and claimed to have committed suicide in 2017.
The three 12th standard students were summoned by the school Principal and asked to bring their parents on Friday. Although the students were suspended for a week, upon parents’ request, the suspension was reduced to three days.
“If posters are not allowed in the classroom, they could have just warned the students. Suspending them is just total harassment,” said one of the parents to The News Minute. Meanwhile, Preetha BR, the school principal claimed that the action was not politically motivated and that when it comes to expressing personal views, “government institutions have limitations.”
The Case
It was on January 13, 2017, that the 13-year-old was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her house in Walayar in Palakkad, Kerala. Almost two months later, on March 4, her nine-year-old sister was also found dead in similar conditions, in their house. The autopsy reports had revealed evidence of multiple sexual assaults and that of unnatural sex.
The police had arrested five accused – V Madhu, M Madhu, Shibu, Pradeep Kumar and a juvenile for abetment of suicide, rape and unnatural sex under Indian Penal Code and penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act. While the case against the juvenile is progressing in the Juvenile Justice Board, the Special POCSO Court acquitted Pradeep Kumar on September 30. On October 25, the remaining three were also acquitted leading to massive protests across the state.
The parents of the children – Shaji and Bhagyavathi – has time and again raised concerns over the lapse in the police investigation. “We are not satisfied with the investigation of the police. We need a CBI probe,” said the mother to News18.
Protests Across Kerala
Stating the ruling party’s inaction and the police’s negligence, numerous citizen groups, including political parties, have taken to the streets to protest against the verdict. On Saturday, BJP Scheduled Caste (SC) Morcha workers staged a protest in front of Kerala Law Minister, AK Balan’s residence. Last week, the youth wings of the BJP and the Congress had rallied to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Palakkad against the acquittal. The BJP Mahila Morcha activists also burnt an effigy of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.
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