After the incident, Congress workers protested in front of the Vandiperiyar Police Station, demanding protection for the victim's family.
The men were stabbed when they questioned Palraj for showing them an obscene gesture. (iStock)
The father and grandfather of a six-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered at Vandiperiyar in Kerala’s Idukki, were attacked by the paternal uncle of the man acquitted in the case on Saturday, 6 December.
The uncle, Palraj (46), was later arrested from the Taluk Hospital at Peerumedu, where he had sought treatment for claimed injuries.
The girl was found hanging in her house on 30 June 2021, when her parents were out at work on a nearby plantation. The police had initially registered a case of unnatural death but the autopsy report confirmed that the child was raped before she was hanged.
The latest incident occurred at Pashumala Junction near Vandiperiyar around 10.30 am on Saturday. The girl’s father and grandfather were riding a two-wheeler to attend a funeral when Palraj showed an obscene gesture at them.
When questioned, he whipped out a knife and attacked the girl’s father. The grandfather was stabbed when he intervened.
The injured men were provided first-aid at the Public Health Centre at Vandiperiyar, before shifting them to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Palraj, who fled the scene, reportedly went to the CPI(M)’s area committee office, before seeking treatment at the Taluk Hospital.
Palraj’s wife, who was a witness in the rape and murder case, had later turned hostile.
After the incident, Congress workers protested in front of the Vandiperiyar Police Station, demanding protection for the victim’s family.
The protest ended after senior police officials assured protection.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly VD Satheesan alleged that the police refused to give protection to the victim’s kin despite reports of threats from the family of the acquitted youth.
The KPCC announced a protest on Sunday in Vandiperiyar expressing solidarity with the victim’s family.
Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the law and order situation in Kerala has deteriorated.
A POCSO court on 14 December acquitted Arjun (24) in the rape and murder case saying the “prosecution failed to establish all the circumstances which are consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence.”
The court said that in this case, the investigating officer 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 move an appeal in the case.
The police had earlier claimed that it seemed like he had raped her many times in the past. However, on 30 June, the child fell unconscious during his rape attempt, and thinking that she was dead, he hanged her, police said.
On 15 December, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the acquittal is not something the state could be proud of.
“This is not something that our state can be proud of. It’s a serious matter, and we will look into it and take necessary action. We have already decided to file an appeal. The court has also made certain observations, and such matters will be considered,” Vijayan said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court had on 4 January admitted the state government’s appeal against the acquittal in the case.
A division bench of Justices PB Suresh Kumar and Johnson John ordered the issuance of notice to the accused Arjun (24) and posted the matter for further hearing on 29 January.
In its appeal, the state government contended that the Fast Track Special Court at Kattappana in Idukki district had failed to appreciate the evidence produced by the prosecution.
Earlier, Arjun’s acquittal had sparked widespread protests. The state police chief’s security was breached when a few Mahila Morcha workers barged into the DGP’s residence on 16 December.
The activists had gone to the DGP’s residence to submit a memorandum. Following a scuffle with the police guards, some of them breached security and entered the residential premises. DGP Sheikh Darvesh Saheb was reportedly present in the residence when the incident occurred.
The police later brought in women officers from the Museum station to remove the activists from the premises.
(With PTI inputs)
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