Kerala HC gives relief to parents of two girls in 2017 Walayar rape-murder case

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday issued an interim order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any action, including arrest, against the parents of two Dalit girls who were reportedly raped and murdered in Walayar in 2017.

The Walayar case involves the deaths of two Dalit sisters, ages 9 and 13, who were discovered hanging at their house in 2017, within a gap of a few months.

Scientific reports pointed out sexual assault, with the younger girl's report indicating possible homicidal hanging.

But a trial court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) acquitted all the accused in 2019 due to lack of evidence.

Later, the High Court ordered a retrial and transferred the case to the CBI, which filed its charge sheet in January 2025, IANS reported.

Things then went for a toss after the CBI, in its charge sheet, had named the parents as accused, alleging that they had abetted the sexual assault on their daughters by failing to protect them from the accused.

Following this, the parents approached the High Court seeking the quashing of the CBI’s charge sheet against them.

The parents accused the central agency of having conducted a "planned investigation" to shield the real perpetrators.

Based on this, the High Court asked the CBI's response to the petition.

On Wednesday, the High Court granted interim protection to the parents and posted the case for a detailed hearing after the upcoming court vacation.

Incidentally, the CBI, after their probe, had included the parents as accused in their charge sheet, alleging that they had aided the sexual assault on their daughters besides accusing the parents of destroying evidence by burning their daughters' clothes and school bags.

Among the charges against the parents, the CBI included them under various provisions of the POCSO Act, Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code which deal with abetment of rape and unnatural offences, cruelty to children and destruction of evidence.

But the parents have demanded a fresh investigation into the possibility of murder, including the examination of a disputed 'death note' allegedly written by an accused, which the CBI failed to send for forensic analysis despite the court's permission.