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NHRC intervention sought in ice cream parlour case

Special Correspondent

Achuthanandan's charge against Government

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly V. S. Achuthanandan has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene in the ice cream parlour sex scandal case to ensure that the human rights of the girls sexually exploited by those involved in the racket are protected.

In a memorandum sent to the NHRC on Tuesday, Mr. Achuthanandan alleged that the accused in the case, with the active support of the State Government, had coerced, threatened or influenced with bribes the key witnesses in the case. By allowing the witnesses to turn `hostile,' the Government was helping the culprits escape punishment and this was tantamount to challenging the very judicial system in the country, he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the Assistant Sessions Judge-II of Kozhikode, while issuing the `charge' in the case in October this year, "had come to the conclusion that former Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty had been subjecting minor girls to sexual exploitation over a long period of time." The `charge' described seven such instances.

The State Government, instead of booking Mr. Kunhalikutty for the crime, had been actively conniving with him to help him escape punishment, Mr. Achuthanandan said. In his memorandum, he gave the NHRC a day-to-day account of the proceedings of the final trial currently on in the Principal Assistant Sessions Court of Kozhikode, describing how the key witnesses had turned `hostile' en masse.

He also gave several specific points in the memorandum indicating the "active connivance of the State Government" in defeating the process of justice during the trial. The prosecution chose to exclude Mr. Kunhalikutty's name from the list of the accused in the case despite the references about him in the `charge' issued by the Assistant Sessions Judge.

The special public prosecutor appointed by the Government even filed a petition in the High Court seeking to "alter the charge framed in the case [by] deleting the allegations against Kunhalikutty."

Mr. Achuthanandan said that "the attempts to sabotage the ongoing trial in Kozhikode by the Government and Mr. Kunhalikutty amount to the biggest challenge to human rights in India... since the Best Bakery case."

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