Suriyanelli: Victim seeks appointment of new prosecutors

The Suriyanelli rape victim on Monday approached the Kerala high court seeking appointment of two new special prosecutors to conduct the case in the court.

The victim complained that the present Director General of Prosecutions, T Asaf Ali, had tendered legal advise adversely to her in her complaint against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, P J Kurien and if he conducts a hearing on the appeals, she would be 'greatly prejudiced'.

The earlier prosecutors -- Suresh Babu Thomas and C S Ajayan, who conducted the case successfully at special court, Kottayam, were conversant with all details of the case and would only take minimum time to prepare the case and hence they should be appointed, she submitted.

Despite new evidence cropping up as revealed by key accused Darmarajan against Kurien, the government and police on the DGP's advice refused to take action against him. If the DGP conducts the case, she will be 'greatly prejudiced'. The case is likely to come up on Tuesday.

The Suriyanelli case relates to the rape of a 16-year-old girl of Suriyanelli in Idukki district in 1996. The victim, a school girl, was allegedly abducted and taken to different places and sexually exploited by 40-odd persons.

The victim had also filed a complaint against Kurien, listing him as an accused in the case along with three others in the light of revelations by Dharmarajan to a TV channel. Kurien had maintained that all allegations against him had been cleared by the high court and the Supreme Court.

On March 2, a local court had rejected a plea by the victim for a fresh probe into the alleged involvement of Kurien in the case, holding there was no new ground for a fresh investigation.