Kerala rape: Crime scene was compromised, says Maneka Gandhi

An inquiry committee set up by the National Commission of Women (NCW) to look into the horrific rape and murder of a law student from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district in Kerala on April 28, has stated in its report that the Kerala police has not picked up an accused that the traumatised mother of the victim had repeatedly pointed out to.

Reading from the report at a press conference at the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) in Delhi following a question from a scribe, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said that investigations had revealed that the mother and the victim, along with the sister had informed the police that they will be harmed. And yet, the police failed to act on the complaint.

"During the investigations, the NCW team found that the mother had repeatedly pointed out to one of the accused, and he is yet to be picked up by the police. They had reported earlier about the same person. They were told that they will be raped," said Maneka.

Maneka then said that the sister of the victim corroborated the same, and that one of the accused is the brother-in-law of a Left politician. She said that the police seemed to have ignored that because the person seemed to be one with resources, and is well-connected.

The report, submitted on May 13 to Maneka by the NCW, was prepared by the team which was sent to the crime spot on May 4. The team, headed by NCW chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam, had NCW member Rekha Sharma, advocate P Krishnadas, legal technical expert Geeta Rathee Singh, and V Raman, PS to Kumaramangalam.

The report says that the team found the mother and the sister in a traumatised state, and found that "proper psychological counselling was not provided" to the mother, even four days after the incident. The team found that the victim and her family were very poor, belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, and lived in a small, improvised hut. The team also found that they were routinely harassed by their neighbours.

The report further alleges that it appears that the Kerala Police was abetting to the crime. The police tried to ignore several leads, and also did not help the NCW team in their investigations.

The report further states that the crime scene was "deliberately compromised", and the forensic team failed to take necessary action in the investigations, and that there was no video recording of the proceedings. "The police instead of sending the weapon used in the crime scene for chemical examination directly submitted it to the court," read the report. "The forensic science laboratory has failed miserably in providing services to the investigation team to identify the real culprit in the murder of the Dalit woman as the DNA division of the lab has been lying idle for the past several months on account of repair," it read.

The team also found that the inspection of the crime spot was carried out by a postgraduate student of medical science, and the Associate Professor did not visit the place. "The sniffer dog was attached to the investigation by police on May 5, nearly one week after the occurrence of the crime," said the report.

"The Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) as per the provision of section 174 of the CrPC was not present at the time of inquest," said the report, which led to technical irregularities.

The inquiry officer Anil Kumar, who was investigating the case, was transferred before the investigations ended, and the new officer did not appear before the NCW team despite being repeatedly asked, said the report.

The report also stated that the ongoing elections could be a reason for the indifference, and that the team has communicated the matter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and the Election Commissioner. It also stated that despite being told that they will be updated of the case, no communication has come to them. "One of the reasons for such lackadaisical and apathetic behaviour of the police could be that the victim belonged to a vulnerable section of the society," the report said.