The Suryanelli rape case (also called the Suryanelli sex scandal) refers to a case of kidnapping and subsequent rape of a 16-year-old school girl from Suryanelli, Kerala, India, in 1996. The girl was allegedly lured with the promise of marriage on 16 January 1996 and kidnapped. She was allegedly raped by 37 of the 42 accused persons, over a period of 40 days. The remaining had abetted the crime. After P.J. Kurien, the then Union Minister and later Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman belonging to UDF led by Congress party, was named, the issue was politicised, due to a then upcoming general election. Several women's rights activists like K. Ajitha and Suja Susan George, and women's organisations, like NFIW and Anweshi, have taken an interest in the case.
On 2 September 2000, a Special Court in Kottayam found 35 of 39, of those who faced trial, to be guilty of various charges. On 12 July 2002, the prime accused - Dharmarajan was found guilty of various charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he left jail on bail on 25 October 2002 and then disappeared. On 20 January 2005, the Kerala High Court acquitted all 35 convicts, except prime accused Dharmarajan, due to lack of evidence corraborating the victim's statement. The court found her to be untrustworthy. The verdict was criticised by women's rights activists. In January 2013, the Supreme Court of India repealed the acquittals awarded by the High Court and ordered a fresh hearing. In early February 2013, Dharmarajan appeared in a TV interview and said that P. J. Kurien was involved and the police covered it up. This stirred a controversy and politicians began demanding Kurien's resignation. The High Court of Kerala has discharged Prof Kurien from all charges on 4 April 2007. The Supreme Court also confirmed it. It has been refuted in Indian Parliament too. Soon after, Dharmarajan was arrested. In May, he retracted his previous statements. Kurien was acquitted by the Kerala High Court.
On 4 April 2014, the Kerala High Court upheld Dharmarajan's life sentence and acquitted 7 of the 35 surviving accused. , the case is in appeal at the Supreme Court.
Incident and investigation On 16 January 1996, a 16-year-old girl (initially reported as 15), from Suryanelli village in Idukki district, disappeared from her hostel. The family had come to Suryanelli because the father, employee of the Department of Telecommunications, had been posted there. The girl lived in the hostel of the Little Flower Convent School in Munnar, where she was a student. Her father reported her disappearance, but despite a police search she was not found. The girl reappeared after 40 days on 26 February 1996 at her father's workplace. The next day her kidnapping and rape was reported to the police.
The girl was examined by V. K. Bhaskaran (later prosecution witness #73), a gynaecologist at Government Taluk Hospital, Adimali, on 28 February 1996. He noted the vaginal examination was painful and the vulva was oedematous. The doctor, during the trial in 2002, stated that the victim had been subjected to "violent sexual acts". There was infection. The doctor said that intercourse would have been painful, if done during the infection. He said the vaginal wall was not lacerated. (Violent intercourse can result in lacerations.) The doctor said that there was no sign or evidence of resistance. However, the doctor did not rule out the possibility of rape, stating, "If, as stated by the victim, she was raped after being threatened and intimidated, then there would not be any sign of resistance on her body." The infection, inflammation, ulcers and fresh tears, coupled with the victim's visible distress, signified violence. Additionally, he pointed out that contusions or abrasions occurring in the initial days would have healed by the end of the ordeal, given the timeline.
The police named 42 persons as accused initially and 40 of them were found by 1999. The list included politicians and other notable persons.
Events as established by prosecution
The prosecution found that she had been coaxed by a bus conductor, Raju (accused #1), to elope with him. The girl was reportedly in love with him. Raju asked the girl to leave her hostel in Munnar and meet him at Adimali on 16 January 1996. There, he convinced her to accompany him to Kothamangalam and they left at 4:30pm. The man abandoned the girl on the bus and disappeared midway. The girl reached the destination at 7:30pm. She decided to travel onward to Kottayam where her mother's sister lived. She took a bus to Muvattupuzha. Reaching Muvattupuzha, she took an auto-rickshaw to the KSRTC bus stand. From there, she took a fast passenger bus towards Trivandrum. On this bus, she noticed a woman, later identified as Usha (accused #2).
She reached Kottayam but was apprehensive of navigating the city's lanes at night. She decided to go to her uncle at Mundakkayam. But, there was no bus to Mundakkayam at night. Usha approached her and offered help. She introduced the girl to one Sreekumar, who was later identified as Dharmarajan, a lawyer and prime accused. He promised that he would take her to Mundakayam later. He told her that his mother was staying at a lodge and she could stay there. The girl agreed to accompany him, but he raped her in the lodge. On the same night, her father had reported her as missing. An assistant sub-inspector had conducted a search but could not locate her.
The next morning she was taken to Ernakulam in a bus. Thereafter, she was taken to the various places, which included Kumili, Kambam, Palakkad, Vanimel, Aluva, Theni, Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, and Kuravilangad. On the morning of 26 February 1996, she was freed. During the intervening period, she was raped or gang raped by 38 of the 42 accused. The remaining four, including Usha and Raju, had abetted the crimes. Several of the 38 were political workers or involved in politics. Later, many claimed the accusation was a conspiracy to frame them.
Trials and appeals
2000-2002
Initial convictions On 2 September 2000, the Special Court at Kottayam found 35 of the 39 accused persons to be guilty and four were acquitted. Among the convicts were three women. One of the accused had died during the trial and two were still absconding. The verdict was 356 pages long. The court criticised the police's handling of the case in the initial stages and its attempt to shield the accused persons. Various charges which included Sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 376 (2)(B) (gang rape), 365 (kidnapping with intent to confine), and 366 (A) (kidnapping with intent to rape) of the Indian Penal Code, were proven against various persons. The sentencing took place on 6 September.
Dharmarajan's trial On 16 September 2000, Dharmarajan was arrested from Karnataka. He had been absconding for 4 years. In 2002, the trial of the prime accused, Dharmarajan, began. The court presided by P. Chandrasekhara Pillai found him guilty of several charges including gang rape and abduction on 10 July 2002. The court said that as a lawyer he was aware of the implications of his actions and sentenced him to life in prison on 12 July 2002 by judge V. Chandrasekharan Nair. He was found guilty of Sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (A) (kidnapping with intent to rape), 368 (illegal confinement), 332 (hurting a public servant), 373 (buying a minor for sex), 376 (rape), 376(2)(B) (gang rape), 392 (robbery) read with Sections 109 (abetting a crime) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.
Dharmarajan had filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court, but it was rejected on 13 June 2002. After receiving his sentence, Dharmarajan only served a small part of his sentence. He had been sent to the Central Prison, Poojappura on 13 July 2002 and 25 October 2002 he had been released on bail. After that, he disappeared. The police could not track him down and in 2010 the warrant was dropped. He had served 2 years and 92 days, including the time in custody during pre-trial.
2005-2007
Kerala High Court's acquittals On 20 January 2005, a Kerala High Court bench, comprising Justice K. A. Abdul Gafoor and Justice R. Basant, overturned the lower court's verdict and acquitted 35 of the 36 accused due to lack of evidence. Dharmarajan's sentence was reduced from life imprisonment to 5 years. The court decided that her statements cannot be taken as the truth in absence of collaborating evidence, as she had been deemed untrustworthy.
Defence's arguments The defence had pointed out as girl had squandered her hostel fees on other purposes and had admitted to pawning her jewellery on 1 January 1996, weeks before eloping. The defence said that there was lack of evidence that she had resisted, or indicted to the accused persons that she was an unwilling participant. Thus, rape could not be proved. The only other notable witness, apart from the victim, was accused #42 who had been remanded. She had turned into a prosecution witness. The defence called the victim to be deemed untrustworthy citing past cases.
The defence claimed that the prosecution had also tried to withhold certain evidences and witnesses. One investigating officer initially a prosecution witness, was not called during the second case. He had to be presented by the defence. The prosecution also had tried to suppress evidence that proved that the girl had given her hostel fees to one of the accused. The evidence, regarding a letter left by the girl on the day she vanished, was also suppressed. The initial statements given to various officers after her reappearance were presented a very late date, as a result the defence couldn't make a good case or cross examine the victim properly. They called these unfair towards the accused. The defence also pointed to an early statement made by the father which proved that, he was aware that the girl had run away, not kidnapped.
Prosecution's arguments The public prosecutor said that accused #1 had first blackmailed the girl with a photo album and later asked her to leave with him. The girl had given the album to a friend Fatima. Fatima had entrusted the album to accused #1 who had promised to give to the girl. The girl had allegedly collected the money to pay off accused #1. An auto-rickshaw driver had overheard him talking to accused #2 about the girl. The prosecution also provided evidence that the prime accused, Dharmarajan, was residing in the lodge where she was first raped, since 2 January 1996. The prosecution said that this proved that there was conspiracy to abduct the girl. As both her parents were working, the prosecution said that the girl no lack of money and had no need to sort such means. The prosecution also replied to the other contentions raised by the defence.
Other evidences and witnesses