Kerala CS, DGP asked to appear before NCSC on Nov 11 regarding Dalit girls' rape case

The NCSC summoned the Kerala chief secretary and director general of police on Monday, asking them to appear before it on November 11 for a personal hearing, an official of the panel said.

The summonses were issued in connection with the acquittal of four accused in a case of alleged rape and suspicious death of two Dalit girls in Palakkad district's Walayar for "lack of evidence", National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Vice-Chairman L Murugan told PTI.

The commission wanted to know about the lapses and reasons for the acquittal of the accused, those responsible for this and the measures to be taken for their conviction in a higher court through a water-tight prosecution case, he said.

Public outcry and protests erupted in Kerala, seeking justice to the family of the Dalit sisters aged 11 and nine, after a special POCSO court in Palakkad acquitted the accused on October 25.

The victims were from Shelvapuram in Attapallam, near Walayar. They were found hanged in January and March of 2017 respectively. Post-mortem reports suggested that the girls were sexually assaulted.

The opposition parties have alleged that the police, under political pressure, helped the accused, who belonged to the ruling CPI(M), by weakening the prosecution case.