The parents burnt a copy of the government order symbolizing their protest in promoting the investigation officer in the case.
Her parents would have cut a cake for her and celebrated her 14th birthday on Sunday. But instead of celebrating their daughter's birthday, the parents of the Walayar sisters stood in front of the Kochi Commissionerate Office on Sunday, marking their protest, once again, on justice being denied to the family. It was in 2017 that the two sisters, a eleven-year-old and a nine-year-old, were found dead within a gap of a few months, after being sexually assaulted. Though four men and a juvenile were arrested in the case, a shoddy probe paved way for the acquittal of the four accused men last year. Following a day’s hunger strike, the parents burned a copy of the government order which promoted MJ Sojan, who was the investigation officer in the case. Sojan has been promoted from Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) to Superintendent of Police at the Crime Branch central unit 2 in Ernakulam. The parents of the children, who came from Walayar in Palakkad to Kochi on Sunday, held a hunger strike in front of the Gandhi Statue, before heading to the Kochi Commissionerate Office along with the members of Justice for Walayar Kids Forum. “Instead of punishing the officer who sabotaged the case, they (government) protected and promoted him. We will continue our protest till we get justice,” said the mother. MJ Sojan, who was the Deputy Superintendent of Police back in 2017, had earlier come in a spot after he told the media that the elder sister “enjoyed” the sexual harassment. “That is the way evidence was collected in the case. It’s not because Kerala Police don’t know what to do, but police have become puppets with the intervention of the ruling government,” said retired Justice B Kemal Pasha, while addressing the media through a video. The mother of the children had in June written a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opposing promoting MJ Sojan. Watch Pembilai Orumai leader Gomathi extending support to protest The Justice for Walayar Kids Forum has been organising various protest programs including long marches, trying to grab the attention of the government since January. The protests were stopped in March following the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Activist CR Neelakandan, who is part of the Justice for Walayar Kids Forum, alleged that with the promotion, the state government is now going to confer the police officer with IPS. Though only a handful of people participated in the protest held on Sunday due to COVID-19 regulations, many extended support to the protesting parents through social media. Read: Walayar sisters death: Kerala police admit to laxity in preliminary investigation Watch Walayar sisters mother speaking during protest:
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