Over 100 people, including women and children, on Thursday tonsured their heads here seeking action against the police personnel who had committed lapses in the probe into the death of two minor Dalit sisters after alleged sexual assault in Walayar four years ago. ‘
The mass tonsure protest in front of the District Collectorate was held under the aegis of Bharatiya Pattika Jana Samajam (BPJS), expressing solidarity with the parents of the girls, who were found hanging in their hut in northern Palakkad district in 2017.
After the Kerala High Court recently ordered a re-trial in the case observing that there were serious lapses in the investigation and there has been a miscarriage of justice, the state government last month handed over it to the CBI.
BPJS Ernakulam district secretary Rajitha Animon was the first one to tonsure her head, following which over 100 people, including several other women and children, got their heads shaved demanding justice for the girls. The outfit later announced it would continue with similar agitations until the police personnel were removed from service and authorities took necessary action against them.
The mother of the deceased girls had recently tonsured her head to protest the alleged government inaction against the police. She had shaved her head on February 27 after staging a month-long satyagraha in her home district Palakkad.
The HC had set aside an October 2019 order of the (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) POCSO Court acquitting five accused in the case.