Kannur (Kerala) [India], November 15 : Former BJP leader K Padmarajan has been sentenced to life imprisonment until death and fined one lakh rupees after being found guilty in the Palathayi child rape case.
The sentence was handed down by the Thalassery fast-track POCSO court in Kerala.
The probe began after allegations that the fourth-grade girl was sexually assaulted in the school toilet and in another house. The school is located in Palathayi in Kannur district. A complaint was received by the Thalassery Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) on March 16, 2020. The initial investigation by the Panoor police concluded that the complaint was false. However, after strong protests, a case was filed under the POCSO Act.
Padmarajan, a teacher, was arrested on April 15. The girl's family had criticised the investigation team, and the case was handed over to the Crime Branch.
The Crime Branch also faced criticism as the chargesheet was filed hours before the 90 days were up. The POCSO section was not included in the chargesheet. Another Crime Branch team later investigated the case and submitted a final chargesheet, invoking sections under the POCSO Act.
The trial in the case began on February 23, 2024. The court recorded the statement of the child who was the victim of the abuse. The prosecution examined 40 witnesses, including the child's friend, a student, and four teachers and found the accused guilty.
The accused is a former president of the BJP Thrippangottur Panchayat Committee in Mundathode, Kadavathur.
Padmarajan's lawyer, Advocate Premarajan, said the allegations were fabricated.
"This case is fabricated by Islamic organisations, PFI, Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI. They created fabricated evidence against the teacher as he was a BJP sympathiser and the Panchayat committee president of the BJP at that time. Padmarajan created a Facebook post supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that was discussed in the local mosque, and they issued a Fatwa against him. After two months of the incident, this case was fabricated," he alleged.
Public Prosecutor Adv. K Ajith Kumar said he was happy with the verdict.
"Initially, there was some malpractice. A new team started to investigate the case after the intervention of the High Court and the Thalassery fast-track court. The court believes that the final report submitted by the investigation team is correct," he said.