Suryanelli case: Kurien raped girl, says convict

In a new twist, Dharmarajan, the only convict in the Suryanelli rape case, has disclosed that Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien had raped the victim.

Speaking to a Malayalam news channel, Dharmarajan said he had taken Kurien in his Ambassador car from Vandiperiyar at 6:30 pm on February 19, 1996, to Kumali Guest House. Two other accused Unni and Jamal had followed them in another car. “Kurien went straight into the room where the girl had been lodged. He spent half-an-hour with her in the room,’’ claims Dharmarajan.

The girl reiterates that a khadi-clad man had assaulted her and Dharmarajan says that man was Kurien. Dharmarajan says that another accused and a local Congress leader Jacob Stephan had introduced Kurien to him.

He alleges that Siby Mathews, who headed the investigation team, asked him not to mention Kurien’s name in the court.

Some members of the team had beaten him up to extract assurance from him. But Joshwa, an officer in the team, had insisted him to disclose the name of Kurien. Kurien had been exempted by the investigation team from the identification parade of the accused in the case.

Dharmarajan, a lawyer, had been sentenced for life erm in 2002 by the special court constituted for trying the case. But a high court division bench comprising Justice Gafoor and Justice Basant reduced the jail term to a five-year rigorous imprisonment in 2005.

He was granted parole in Octobersince then he has been absconding. He talked to the TV channel at a place near Mysore. He said that he would surrender before police within a few days. However, Siby Mathews, currently the state chief information commissioner, has refuted his charges.

The former IPS officer alleged that Dharmarajan was trying to confuse the court against the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court ruling that the high court should reconsider the case and trying to escape from the case.

Dharmarajan could have disclosed this to the magistrate who had taken his statement and there was no presence of police when the statement was taken,argues Mathews.

Cong non-committal on Kurien’s fate

The Congress continues to be noncommittal on the fate of P J Kurien who is facing allegations of his role in 1996 Suryanelli serial-rape case, even as the Left and other opposition parties are mounting pressure on it seeking resignation of the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on the ground of propriety,DHNS reports from New Delhi. 

A day after Congress spokesperson PC Chacko suggested at Thrissur in Kerala that a decision on the controversial issue will be taken before the Budget Session pf Parliment begins, the party on Monday distanced itself from his statement, describing it as his “person opinion” and not the party’s stand.

“We will be taking decision on all issues, including this, before the Parliament Session begins on February 21. The high command will not be closing its eyes to any issue coming before the party,” Chacko had told reporters at Thrissur on Saturday.

Party’s another spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit told reporters in New Delhi on Monday, Whatever Chacko said is his personnel opinion. We can have our personal views as well as that of a spokesperson.”