Kerala Dalit woman rape: NCW urges EC to order fair probe

The National Commission for Women today urged the Election Commission to order a "fair" probe into the rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit woman in poll-bound Kerala, saying "electoral considerations" were affecting the police investigation in the case.
A three-member NCW delegation led by Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam met the Chief Election Commissioner and apprised him of the "administrative apathy" in probing the incident.
"There is a probability that the probe is not being conducted as rigorously as possible due to electoral considerations . As Kerala is going to polls, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to take serious note of the issue that can easily escalate to a serious law and order problem.

"Therefore, I request your office to take immediate cognizance of the matter and ensure a fair probe into it," Kumaramangalam said in an NCW report submitted to the EC.
She said NCW had taken suo moto cognizance of the incident and set up an inquiry committee which found several lapses.
"NCW found that there were several gaping holes in the investigation. All avenues of the matter were not explored and it seemed that the administration was merely searching for a scapegoat rather than conducting the inquiry in a fair and impartial manner.
"It was also observed that police conducted the probe in a lackadaisical and apathetic manner. For example, postmortem was allegedly conducted by a post-graduate student and the crime scene was compromised," the report alleged.