By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The death of a teenage girl in a private hospital in Kottayam in 2004, known as the Killiroor sex case, has stirred up fresh controversy in Kerala especially with the name of a state minister getting involved.
The Kerala state unit of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Thursday asked the Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, who belongs to Kerala, to inquire into the manner in which the Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate Phillip Thomas asked the police to file a case against Kerala Health Minister P.K. Sreemathi.
On Wednesday, Thomas hearing a petition from N. Nagaraj directed the police to register a case against Sreemathi and two officials in Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s office over allegedly hiding a file containing information about the case.
The six people named to be investigated include Sreemathi, private secretary to Achuthanandan S. Rajendran, political secretary to Achuthanandan K.N. Balagopal, the children of two state ministers and Latha Nair, an accused in the case.
Addressing reporters here, office bearers of the state unit of AIDWA said that the central committee of the AIDWA also has taken up this issue.
“We wish to find out if the move to include a leader and a minister like Sreemathi along with one of the accused in the case is right,” said state AIDWA president T.N.Seema to IANS.
Thomas asked the Cantonment Police Station sub inspector to register a case and investigate the missing file in the Killiroor sex case.
This issue surfaced after K. Suresh Kumar, an IAS officer and a former official in the office of Achuthanandan, last Sunday told the media that the two officials in the chief minister’s office were hiding this sensitive file.
Following his outburst, Kumar was suspended Wednesday evening pending inquiry from the post of managing director of a state owned cooperative bank.
The Killiroor sex case pertains to the death of teenager Shari who died in mysterious circumstances in a private hospital in Kottayam in 2004.
Achuthanandan, who was then leader of the opposition, had said that according to the doctors the victim’s health deteriorated after a VIP visited her.
Shari’s father Surendran later alleged that the VIP who Achuthanandan referred to was Sreemathi.
Meanwhile, Surendran is likely to approach the high court to petition against the missing file.