The Kerala High Court on Monday rejected two pleas that sought a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the brutal rape and murder of a 29-year-old woman in Perumbavoor last month. A division bench ruled that a new special investigation team had been set up, and that their inquiry was progressing in a “satisfactory manner”, PTI reported. A report on the progress of the investigation was submitted to the bench. The court also rejected a petitioner’s request to see the victim’s post-mortem report, and said a third party had no right to make such claims.
Ernakulam range Inspector General Mahipal Yadav filed a petition in the court against the directive issued by the Police Complaints Authority, asking for an explanation regarding the lapses in the investigation. The police had allegedly made several errors when the investigation first started, including allowing public into the victim’s home and crime scene area for days after her murder.
The new Left government in Kerala had appointed senior police officer B Sandhya as the new chief of the investigation. The case became an issue during recently-held state elections, with Opposition attacking the then Congress government for the rape and killing of a 29-year-old law student, and the alleged lapses in the police investigation that followed.
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