The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday flip-flopped on its earlier finding that sexually aberrant behaviour on the part of the father had resulted in the suspected suicide of the teenage victim in what has come to be known as the 2004 Kaviyoor sex-for-stardom scandal case.
In a 23-page report it filed in the court, CBI Special Judge J. Nazar said that it had reinvestigated the matter and found no evidence to suggest the father was the culprit conclusively.
The court had in 2014 dismissed the CBI’s previous report blaming the girl's father as “perfunctory and ineffective” and ordered a “purposeful and meaningful enquiry”. It had said that criminality was not a matter of inference and that just because some father had sexually exploited his daughter did not mean that every father would do the same.
The case is related to the deaths due to suspected poisoning of two teenage girls and their parents at their house in Kaviyoor in Kottayam in September 2004. The incident had triggered a public outcry and spawned intense speculation that the elder girl was the victim of a casting couch racket. The rumours had also caused some measure of turmoil in the Left Democratic Front (LDF), after T. P. Nandakumar, Editor of Crime Magazine, who pleaded in the case as a third party, alleged in open court that the sons of two prominent left leaders were responsible for the family’s plight.
He deposed that the youth had extorted sexual favours from the teenager, promising her parts in films and television serials. He also alleged that a procuress had a role in the deaths.
The CBI told the court that they found no proof linking the children of the politicians to the end of the family. The agency inferred that the father, a temple priest, could have poisoned his wife and children and then committed suicide by hanging. The agency said Latha Nair, a socially-connected woman who posed as the priest’s benefactor, had threatened the family after their financial and personal relationship turned sour. The CBI has booked her in the case on the charge of abetment.
Mr. Nandakumar said there were gaps in the CBI's investigation report and he would soon file an objection.
