It was just about two kilometres away from Palakkad main road, but the path which led to the house of Walayar sisters looked as if it led to nowhere. The dusty, unpaved pathway, situated amidst the arid wilderness, looked abandoned and uncertain.
It was here that the 13-year-old and the nine-year-old sisters lived their life until they were found dead within a span of two months in 2017, and where their parents continue to live now. Both sisters were victims of sexual assault. Last week, a Kerala court acquitted four of the five accused.
The makeshift house where the sisters lived
While politicians and media persons throng the house of the deceased sisters as the case has now grabbed the attention of the state, the parents of the two siblings continue to be in a state of uncertainty.
Speaking to TNM, the mother hopes that her daughters will still get justice, now that the case is once again in the limelight.
"There was similar protests and uproar from the media and public when the children were found dead. But nothing happened and the accused are now walking free. At least this time we hope that we will get justice," she says.
While discussions and debates are hurriedly going on about the lack of proper investigation and acquittal of accused in the case, she is still trying to comprehend the "what if's" which would have saved her daughters.
"Both of them had been studying in a school in Paluvai till 2016. They had been staying in the school hostel from a very young age. In 2016, the elder girl started menstruating. Following this, she was sent away from school back home. She was having trouble with managing herself during menstrual cycle and the school authorities were adamant that we bring her back home. They told us to keep her at home for a year till she became accustomed to periods," she says.
"We brought both of the children back home from school in the middle of 2016 and got admission at a nearby school here. If they had been staying there like before, both of them would not have to face this," she says.
'Police probe was faulty from beginning'
Both the parents had raised concerns about the probe from the initial stages. Despite telling the police, they had found one of the accused persons sexually abusing the elder child, the mother alleges that this was not taken seriously by the police.
"On the day when the first child was found dead, we were not at home. It was the nine-year-old who found her dead. And she saw two people who had covered their face, running away from the house. This was stated to the police and they took, V Madhu, one of the persons who has now been acquitted to custody but let him off within a day," alleges the mother.
It was only after the younger child was found dead in the same way after two months, that police again arrested V Madhu and another four persons in connection with the case.
'We may face threats'
All of the five accused are either extended family members of the sisters’ family or knew them closely before. "After the case started, we are left all alone, even our relatives have stopped talking to us," says the mother of the girls.
Hinting that they are facing pressure from the family of the persons who were alleged to be behind the death of their children, she also alleges that they may face threats. "Everyone including the media comes and goes, but who will be responsible if anything happens to us here," she asks.
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