Two sisters were found hanging 52 days apart after being sexually abused in Kerala

More than two years after minor sisters, allegedly victims of sexual assault, were found dead in their home in Kerala 52 days apart, a special court has acquitted three accused in the case. Delivering its verdict on Friday, the court said police had failed to establish the crime with evidence. The sisters' mother has since alleged lapses in the police probe and that the accused had links to Left parties. "The accused have been shielded by Left Democratic Front (LDF) because they used to work for the Left locally," she told media today after the acquittal was announced.

"It's evident that the police has failed in probing this case. On the day my elder daughter was found hanging, my younger child had seen two men exit the shed. But couldn't identify them, because their faces were covered," she said.

"If Left government's influence and interference this case needs to be brought to light, an external agency needs to probe this case. The prosecution miserably failed to prove this demand for external agency," Congress MLA Shafi Parambil said in the Assembly today. Mr Parambil had sought an adjournment notice in the Assembly today to discuss alleged intentional sabotage of the police.

Sources within Kerala Police say they will challenge the special court's verdict and will look into the mother's allegations that the accused had links to the Left government.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has described the fact the accused have not been punished as an "unfortunate incident" and added that he expects them to be brought to justice.

"The fact that accused have not been punished is the unfortunate thing. We all expected them to be punished. Is this prosecution's defeat or lapses in police probe? This has to be seriously probed," he said.

"The sad end of these two girls, will disturb any conscience. They have to get justice. (The) government is with the victims. Whether it is a re-investigation or CBI probe, that will be a decision taken keeping in mind justice," he added.

The acquittal by the court comes despite a post-mortem report on the younger sister, 9, saying there was evidence of unnatural sex and the girls' mother testifying against the accused, saying she had seen one of her children being abused.

In January 2017, residents of a small village in Palakkad district of the state were shocked to find the body of a 13-year-old girl hanging from her dilapidated house. At the time, her distraught mother alleged her child had been repeatedly abused by relatives. "I have seen her being abused and he was not allowed to come to the house after that," she said.

Less than two months later, the victim's younger sister was found dead - in the same place.

The family said she had been very close to her elder sister. A student of Class IV at the village school, she had even given a statement to the police about seeing two men leave their house the day her sister was found dead.

At the time of the younger sister's death police said both girls had become victims of sexual abuse. Cases of unnatural death were registered with charges of rape and unnatural sex added later.

"The post-mortem report shows they were sexually abused," said Ajith Kumar, Inspector-General of Police, said at the time, adding, "Earlier we had considered it only as a case of unnatural death".

The abuse had been even more vicious in case of the younger girl, and the police will register a case of rape and unnatural sex, he said.

A case was filed also under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989.