Angels turn devils and devils angels
C P Aboobaker
The Hon. Supreme Court of our land has proved its mettle by upholding the judgment of the Thodupuzha special Court in the Suryanelli case. The apex court has not only cancelled the order of the High Court of Kerala that let all but one accused in the case scot-free, but also upheld the order of the primary court that convicted all the 36 accused in the case to various tenure of imprisonment. This judgment stands one of the most important orders of our apex court in the recent past.
The Suryanelli case does not require any introduction. A Bus Cleaner pretends to be smitten with a 14 year old high-school girl; he abducts her and sells her to pimps. In a span of 40 days commencing on 16th January 1995, the girl was subjected to rape by 42 persons in succession. Even when her genitals were swollen due to repeated rape, the despicable criminals subjected her repeatedly to a condition worse than death…
This Honourable judgement has led to chaos as politicians from here and there, in our government have lost nights of sleep and contributed blood, sweat, and money to the “noble” cause of granting the criminals justice and the victim injustice. The girl had recognized each and every person of the accused 42... We can only guess at how these heartless criminals had abused her and how their faces are seared into her memory. One among them was at first known to her as Bachi as he was referred to while he was raped by him. The girl had requested him to save her from the manacles of this prison; but he had said to her that all girls of the like (whereby he said the girl belonged to the category of sex-selling women) always pretended to be innocent. Later, when she was set free by the rapists, she saw the photograph of Honourable Prof. P. J. Kurian in the folders of a newspaper. He has adorned many positions, an eminent Congress leader, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha and a central minister, a man supposed to be a servant of the nation, the saviour of the weak and a man responsible for the welfare of the general public. After the Supreme Court squashed the High Court order setting him free (Only in India..!! What a cliché), the case against Mr Kurian is sure to be torn open again. One argument in favour of Mr Kurian was that all accused except one were set free by the Hon. High Court of Kerala. Now that all accused again stand punished, it is time for Kurien to face the consequences of supposedly raping a 14 year old innocent school girl... The law must come out for justice. It must be delivered... With a Vengeance…
For last 17 years, the girl was saying that Mr Kurian had raped her and even inflicted physical torture on her while raping her, like burning her body with cigarette. The Honourable Government of Kerala and its considerable resources are still trying to save Kurien on the ground that he was set free by the Supreme Court. The edifice of evidences that Mr Kurian had built up in his defence is being torn apart as witnesses have unusually started telling the truth and as new witnesses testify to his presence at the place of rape on the day. Kurien’s accomplices have started changing their statements, the last being Dharmarajan, accused No. 3 in the case.
The most despicable utterances made by Justice Basant in a private conversation
allegedly leaked out by a media clearly prove that he has an imperative need to
indictSuryanelli girl in order to save his accomplices and his own face for pronouncing
a most illicit judgment in her case.
In the wake of the new ordinance signed by the His Excellency the Hon. President
of the Republic of India, the Suryanelli case poses the avenue for new judicial
proceedings and new public debates. Sexual assault on girls who have not attained
adulthood is a crime throughout India. Innocent girls are teased to yield to the
carnal attempts of patriarchal hooligans.
Our system has to change;it is not a question of morals. It is a struggle for
survival for a helpless girl, seduced by the most antisocial elements of Kerala
society.
By the time this editorial reaches the readers, anything may happen. Anything. The girl may even be taken by the Police for defaming an honourable man like Kurian. Her father may be treated as an offender. And her mother may be incriminated for giving birth to her that has insulted the like of Kurian. It is Kerala, it is India. It is in India that a girl who was victim of a gory incident of rape and nearing her death was deported to Singapore merely in order that the ruling dynasty in Delhi may escape the wrath of the inflamed youth of Delhi. So, anything may happen here. Antony can turn a devil and Kurian can turn an angel.
C. P. Aboobacker, Editor
C P Aboobaker - C.P. ABOOBACKER, editor of thanalonline, belongs to Calicut in Kerala. His interests include writing, publishing poems, essays, and many more literary things. Latest writing is about Channels and Globalizations. He is a retired professor of history.
e-mail: cpaboobacker@gmail.com
