Congress unlikely to act against Kurien in rape case
Monday February 18, 2013 11:48:07 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: The
Congress is unlikely to take any action against Rajya Sabha deputy
chairman P.J. Kurien, whose name has been dragged into the
Suryanelli rape case, a Congress leader said Monday.
"There are too many gaps in the fact sheet of the case. We need to
ascertain the truth in the matter," said a Congress leader on the
condition of anonymity.
The Congress may not act against Kurien in the 17-year-old alleged
rape case despite knowing that the opposition would raise the
issue in the parliament's budget session starting Feb 21.
The Congress has been defending Kurien saying the party would like
to wait till all the facts in the case are known.
Kurien met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week and explained his
position.
The Congress has said that Kurien's name was cleared in the case
by the Supreme Court and it was for state investigation agencies
or the apex court to make any further observations in the matter.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has refused to reopen the
case.
According to party sources, there is no "tolerance" in the
Congress for a serious charge like rape, but a person cannot be
"hanged" merely on the basis of an allegation.
"If this is done without taking all the facts into account, it
could set a dangerous trend," said a Congress leader.
But the Congress, which plans to pass a tough anti-rape law in the
budget session, understands the embarrassment it could face when
parliament debates the issue with Kurien in the chair.
A possible compromise formula could be that Kurien may offer not
to officiate as deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha to calm the
opposition, sources said.
They added that the matter may not be blown out of proportion if
the opposition is taken into confidence on the issue.
"Kurien had filed a defamation case against his detractors earlier
and won. There were no counter appeals. He had won elections but
the issue was never raised. Why now?" said a Congress leader.
The sex scandal took place at Suryanelli in Kerala's Idukki
district January 1996, when the then 16-year-old was allegedly
threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor and was later
confined and sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men.
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