New Delhi, Feb 8: The Suryanelli gang rape case of 1996 has become the proverbial thorn in the flesh for the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, P J Kurien. Kurien belongs to Kerala and is a senior leader of Indian National Congress (INC). He served as union minister several times and took over as the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha on August 21, 2012.
Indian politics has witnessed plethora of scandals full of sex and sleaze since independence and whenever a new scandal comes to light, it evokes a poignant sense of déjà-vu. But this time, the case is entirely different and serious as it involves the constitutional post of Deputy Chairman of the upper house of parliament.
What is this Suryanelli rape case and how is P J Kurien related to this case? For understanding the case in entirety, let's go back to 1996.
In 1996, a 16 year old girl was kidnapped by a bus conductor in Kerala and was raped by 42 men for 40 days. After the girl was released, she wrote a letter to then Chief Minister A K Antony stating that among others she was raped by a person called ‘Bhajji' at the Kumily guest house. Later, when a picture of that person appeared in a newspaper, she recognised ‘Bhajji' as P.J. Kurien. According to the victim, this was pointed out by her to investigation officials, but they did not book Kurien as an accused.
