Tags:
Journalism of Courage
In a trial that is being held 18 years after she was allegedly abducted and serially raped,the victim in the Vithura sex scandal failed to identify the alleged accused in a special Kottayam court on Friday. She told the court she could not recall the faces of the perpetrators and the court subsequently declared her to be hostile.
There are 23 cases in the Vithura sex scandal of 1995. The trial of one was held in 2007 and one of the accused,actor Jagathy Sreekumar,was acquitted.
Of the rest,15 cases are being heard by the court separately,disregarding the womans request that they be held simultaneously to cushion the trauma.
The womans lawyer has said that the delayed trial has affected the case. He said she could not recall the faces of the accused or the place she was taken to where she was allegedly abused.
Of the 15 cases that the court is considering,11 have been heard so far and the victim has been unable to identify any of the alleged rapists. The prosecution,subsequently,requested that she be declared hostile. The remaining four cases have been posted for October.
Earlier,the court had pulled her up for failing to turn up for a trial.
