The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail under stringent conditions to 31 accused, who were convicted in September, 2000 by the trial court, in the Suryanelli serial rape case of 1996 which had become sensational due to allegations of involvement of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien in the scandal.
The High Court order evoked widespread criticisms against the way the Prosecution handled the case. The rape victim’s father described the granting of bail to the accused as a result of the failure on the part of the Prosecution while leftist women leaders alleged that the court order exposed the Congress-led State Government’s prejudice against the victim.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices KT Sankaran and Ml Joseph Francis granted bail to the 31 accused whom a special court in Kottayam had in 2000 sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of varying terms. The High Court had in 2005 acquitted 35 of the 36 accused but the Supreme Court on January 31 quashed this verdict.
The case pertains to the brutal serial rape of a 16-year-old girl from Suryanelli village in Idukki district by 42 men between January 16 and February 26, 1996 at various places. The girl had identified almost all the accused and on March 28 that year she accused PJ Kurien of raping her at a rest house in Kumili, Idukki where she had been held captive by her tormentors.
As per the conditions imposed for the bail granted on two sureties for Rs 50,000 each, the accused should not leave Kerala without the court’s prior permission and they should surrender their passports before the trial court. The accused should not indulge in any activities that could hurt or disturb the peaceful lives of the victim and her family.
All the accused except third accused Dharmarajan, a lawyer, had been granted bail. The High court had in 2000 commuted the life sentence granted to him by the special court for five-year jail term while acquitting all the other accused. While setting aside the High Court verdict on January 31, the Supreme Court had termed it shocking.
Granting bail to the accused, the division bench constituted to look into cases of sexual assaults against women said the punishment awarded by the trial to the accused should not be executed now. Of the total 36 accused identified by the police, one had committed suicide at the stage of investigations and another had died during
the trial.