A former Public Prosecutor in the Walayar sisters case, has hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, hours after he spoke during a press meet about the lapses of the prosecution during the trial of the case which had led to all the accused being acquitted. Posing questions to the government, advocate Jalaja Madhavan said that the CM was trying to create a ‘smokescreen’.
Jalaja Madhavan was the Public Prosecutor in the case pertaining to the alleged rape and murder of two Dalit chidlren in Walayar in 2017. In a Facebook post, Jalaja said that she was only in the position of Public Prosecutor for three months, after which she was transferred by an ‘extraordinary order’ of the government without citing any specific reason. Jalaja Madhavan alleged that her removal came after she gave a statement against the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairman who had appeared as a lawyer for an accused in the case before he was appointed to his post.
“Why should i bear the brunt. I was only the prosecutor for just about three months. I did not begin the case nor did I end it. Since many incorrect things are propagating in discussions, it has become necessary to write the truth,” she wrote in the post, adding, “When the LDF government came into power, public prosecutors appointed by the UDF were changed in six districts including Palakkad. I was appointed in Palakkad.”
“But just after three months, in an extraordinary order that was issued from the Home Department without citing any reason, I was changed and the former prosecutor of the UDF- government period was appointed. That too, through an order from the Home Department. It is here that an explanation is required. It hasn’t been told in any order why I was transferred. Whatever it was, why was the former prosecutor of the UDF government itself appointed? Has CM found that Chacko and Sojan (investigating officers of the case) had probed the case efficiently?” Jalaja asked.
She also added that the reason behind the transfer seemed to be connected to statements she gave in a probe about the CWC Chairman. “Without saying it was the lapses of the prosecutors, it should be specifically said whose fault it was. Instead of that, why create this smokescreen?” Jalaja asked. After Jalaja Madhavan was removed, advocate Latha Jayaraj was appointed as the Public Prosecutor. After the accused were acquitted by the court last year, she was also removed citing lapses.
The family of the children have repeatedly spoken out against investigation officers, alleging that they held a botched up probe which was instrumental in the acquittal of the accused persons. The parents of the children had held weeks-long protests in front of the Kerala Secretariat against the promotion of the then investigation officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police MJ Sojan.
Watch: How the Walayar sisters’ cases were botched up