Kochi: The Kerala High Court has stayed the arrest of the parents who were accused in the tragic death of two sisters in Walayar.

This decision follows a petition seeking cancellation of the charge sheet filed against the parents. In addition, the court has granted the parents exemption from appearing in person at the trial court. The bench, led by Justice C Jayachandran, made this intervention in the ongoing case.

The parents, who were accused in connection with the deaths of their daughters, had been summoned by the CBI court to appear in person later this month following the charge sheet filed by the investigation team. The High Court’s intervention pertains to these proceedings and any related matters. While the exemption from appearing in court has been granted, the High Court noted that it would proceed with further considerations after the petition seeking cancellation of the charge sheet is resolved.

The CBI has filed six charge sheets as part of its investigation into the mysterious deaths of the sisters from Walayar. The parents have been named as accused in these documents.

In their petition to the High Court, the parents sought the quashing of the charge sheet, claiming that CBI had failed to conduct a thorough investigation, proceedings lacked transparency, and their side had not been properly heard.

Details of the charge sheet

The charge sheet alleges that postmortem reports confirmed the sisters were subjected to sexual assault. A major claim in the charge sheet is that the parents, despite knowing of the abuse, concealed the information.

The CBI’s Thiruvananthapuram unit filed the charge sheet in the Kochi CBI court concerning the deaths of the Walayar girls.

CBI investigation

The investigation by the CBI indicated that the parents were involved in the tragic deaths of the two sisters. The charges against them include abetment to suicide, abetment to rape, and concealing information about the abuse despite being aware of it. The parents have been charged under sections of the POCSO Act. The CBI found that the children had been repeatedly exploited.

The CBI had earlier concluded that the deaths of the girls in Walayar were suicides. Initially, a charge sheet was filed, but further investigation was carried out under court orders.

A supplementary charge sheet was subsequently filed following this additional investigation. The two sisters, aged 13 and 9, were found hanging in a one-room shed in Walayar on January 13 and March 4, 2017.