Govt decision to send Kurien for Pope’s inauguration comes under fire

Kurien, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, will lead the Indian delegation to the inauguration of Pope Francis despite questions about his alleged role in the gang-rape of a teenager in 1996.

Agencies/New Delhi

The government’s decision to send a politician dogged by rape allegations involving a schoolgirl to the Pope’s inauguration was attacked yesterday by the victim’s family and opposition figures.

P J Kurien, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, will lead the Indian delegation to the inauguration of Pope Francis today, despite questions about his alleged role in the gang-rape of a teenager in 1996 in Suryanelli in Kerala.

The Catholic victim, then a 16-year-old schoolgirl, has accused Kurien of being one of 42 men who raped her after she was abducted and kept in custody for 40 days.

Kurien, now 72, was acquitted of rape in a trial in 2005. But he has come under new pressure after his accuser demanded a fresh investigation following a storm over the deadly gang-rape of a student in New Delhi last December.

A lower court rejected her petition for a new inquiry. But the resurfacing of the allegations has embarrassed the ruling Congress Party, which promised to crack down on sex crimes after the Delhi attack.

The victim’s father condemned the government’s decision to send Kurien, his wife and private secretary to Vatican City.

“I am pained when I read the news. It’s certainly a disgrace for the new Pope,” he said in Kottayam, 130km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The gang-rape case has angered many in the state, with hundreds of protesters camping outside the state assembly for several days last month to try to force Kurien to resign from his parliamentary post.

Former chief minister V S Achuthanandan said that Kurien had used his “political clout” to evade prosecution in the past.

“Now Congress Party may be sending him to get pardoned by the Pope,” Achuthanandan said.

The Supreme Court has ordered a new hearing into the allegations after the Kerala High Court acquitted 35 out of 36 suspects. But it has stopped short of including Kurien in its list of men required to stand trial again.

Kurien was not immediately available for comment and his office said he was on his way to Rome. He has previously rejected the accusations as part of a politically driven smear campaign.

“I’ve been exonerated by the Supreme Court and acquitted after three police investigations,” Kurien said last month.

Meanwhile, the mother of the victim yesterday demanded that the Kerala government appoint Suresh Babu Thomas as the public prosecutor when the case comes up in the state high court.

The victim’s family also requested that C S Ajayan be appointed the additional public prosecutor in the case.

The mother met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state government should appoint Thomas as the special public prosecutor but expressed doubts her request would be entertained.

“In the past, we had put up requests but nothing happened from his side. So, in this request that we put up today, I have doubt if it would be accepted,” the mother said.