Walayar case: Kerala High Court restraint on taking coercive steps against parents of minor girls

Kerala High Court orders halt on coercive steps against parents of deceased girls in Walayar case.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (April 2, 2025) ordered that all coercive steps including arrest against the parents of the two minor girls died at Walayar and who are later arraigned as accused in the death of the case, shall be kept in abeyance.

The court passed the interim order on two petitions filed by the parents challenging the charge sheet filed by the CBI arraigning them as accused in the case. Justice C. Jayachandran also dispensed with the appearance of the parents before the CBI Special Court, Ernakulam, in connection with the case till the final hearing of the petitions.

Walayar case: a timeline of tragedy and twists

When the petitions came up for hearing, P.V. Jeevesh, counsel for the petitioners, argued that the investigation conducted by the CBI was biased with extraneous consideration. The petitioners are not arraigned as the accused on any logical grounds. The investigating officer concluded that the petitioners had committed the offences based on some statements from witnesses who had no credibility. The relationship between the petitioners and the other accused was presented with exaggeration. “The investigating agency is trying to make it a case of suicide,” he alleged.

The petitioners pointed out that the charge against them was that the they did not take any initiative on a complaint of sexual abuse of their daughter and they had intentionally and willfully aided the accused in the case by allowing them to visit the house freely even after knew about the sexual abuse and abetted the accused to commit penetrative sexual assault repeatedly on the girls.

According to the petitions, Pradeep and John Praveen, a suspect, were found dead in suspicious circumstances. However, no investigation concerning the homicidal aspect of the death of Pradeep and John and their connection with the case had been done.

The petitions also sought a directive to the CBI to conduct a further investigation into the deaths of the two girls from the homicidal angle.