The special court for the trial of cases pertaining to atrocities and sexual violence against women and children, Ernakulam, has acquitted 15 persons accused in the Thoppumpady sex scandal case of 2002.
Pronouncing the order, Additional Sessions Judge P.J. Vincent acquitted all the accused, citing absence of solid evidence to connect them to the offence. During the trial, the victim deposed before the court that none of the accused had taken her to any of the locations as alleged in the charge sheet and subjected her to sexual abuse.
The acquitted persons are Arifa Beevi, 48, Hameed, 56, both natives of Kozhikode; Shibili, 41, Tollin Dzousa, 36, P. Biju, 43, Unnikrishnan, 52, Antony Biju, 38, Nassar, 47, Shaheel, 44, all natives of Kochi; Manaf, 38, of Aluva, Shibu, 44, of Kottayam, Rajan Sithara, 59, of Thrissur, Salim, 48, of Chavara, Vinod Kumar, 43, of Thiruvalla, and Abdul Khadar, 71.
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Of the remaining four accused, Kuriakose Mangalath, an assistant vicar from Kottayam, and Satheesh Kumar of Punalur expired during the trial stage. Muhammad alias Krishna Murali, a native of Kannur, and Paulson, the third and ninth accused, are yet to be arrested.
The victim, then a 16-year-old girl and originally a native of Thrissur, had come to Kochi in 2002 and was allegedly lured into a trap of sex racketeers, who also shot pornographic films using her, according to the charge sheet. The abuse came to light when the girl landed in police custody during a raid at a hotel near Thoppumpady, it alleged.
The case shot to limelight when the victim, during a police interrogation, reportedly disclosed the names of several high-profile personalities among the abusers. Later, the victim’s mother approached the Kerala High Court in 2006, which appointed a special investigation team to probe the case.
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The Crime Branch had submitted a charge sheet in 2010 against 19 persons under IPC Sections 120 (B) (1), 292, 372, 372, and Indecent Representation of women (prohibition) Act, in addition to relevant provisions of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. During the investigation, it also claimed to have found that the racketeers had taken the girl to several destinations across Kerala.