The Hindu : Kerala News : Sex scandal victim dead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 14, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Sex scandal victim dead

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM, NOV. 13. The Kiliroor sex scandal victim, Shaari, a teenaged unwed mother, died at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital today.

Confirming the death, doctors attending to her said the girl who was on life support systems for the past several weeks died of multi-organ failure. The end came at 6.45 p.m. Her relatives can take possession of her body after post-mortem on Sunday.

Shaari, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital at Thellakom in a critical condition on August 28, remained oblivious of the controversies surrounding her during the past two-and-a-half months.

Shaari had given birth to a girl child at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital on August 15 and had developed post-natal complexities. She got discharged from the hospital but was soon readmitted to the private nursing home. After spending more than two months at the nursing home, she was removed to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital on the advice of a medical team set up by the Government. During her extended stay at the hospitals, she had developed hepatitis and later her kidneys too failed to function. She was in a highly critical state for the past 72 hours.

Flesh trade

According to the police, the girl was lured into sex trade by her aunt and accomplices, including Latha Nair, who were part of a sex racket. The girl was taken to various places, both inside and outside the State, with the offers of chances in television serials.

The case came to light when her father, Surendrakumar of Cheriakarakkada House, Kiliroor, made a complaint to the police on September 16.

The issue got complicated when a Namboodiri family at Kaviyur perished in what was reported to be a case of suicide. In the `suicide note', they had stated that Latha Nair was responsible for their death and had referred to the Kiliroor sex scandal.

Ever since, the issue has taken political overtones casting its shadow over the dynamics of both the Opposition and the ruling fronts.

Referred to CBI

Meanwhile, the State Government has decided to refer the Kiliroor case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Chief Minister's office, when contacted today, said that the Government was working on the formalities connected with entrusting the probe to the CBI.

The Director General of Police, Hormis Tharakan, had earlier sent a report to the Government suggesting that it would be better to have the case investigated by the CBI.

He is understood to have made such a recommendation because of the political dimensions the case had acquired and the rumours about the involvement of certain influential persons in it.

The credibility of the ongoing investigation by a special team of the Kerala Police was being questioned because of this.

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