The Kerala government has ordered a judicial probe into the deaths of the two minors in Walayar, Palakkad and appointed former Vigilance Tribunal Judge S Haneefa to head the probe.

The developments came a day after the state government told the Kerala High Court that there were grave shortcomings in the probe by the police as well as on the part of the public prosecutor in dealing with the case, and asked for the verdict by the Palakkad POCSO court acquitting the four accused to be quashed.

According to reports, the judicial probe will look into shortcomings of the investigation into the deaths of the minors who were found hanging in their one room tenement almost two months apart. The judicial probe will recommend punitive measures against those found guilty, according to reports. The committee will also suggest measures to be adopted to avoid such lapses in the future. The committee will also find out if the accused had the backing of the local CPI (M) leaders following the deaths, as alleged by the opposition.

The police made it out as if the girls committed suicide out of intolerable pain and agony caused by the multiple instances of unnatural sex. A POCSO court in Palakkad had, last month, acquitted three accused — V Madhu, Shibu, and M Madhu — in the case after the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the crime.

Terming the earlier probe as “ineffective”, the State government had moved the court stating, “There was sexual assault in the first instance but no investigation was conducted into it. In the death case, the investigation was ineffective. The death of the second child could have been prevented if the death of the first child was duly investigated.”

The government, while negating the prosecution decision, further asserted that the police and prosecution did not consult them after submitting the final report in the case. It had on Monday removed the special public prosecutor as he could not present incriminating evidence against the accused which led to their acquittal.

—India Legal Bureau