Kottayam: The Suryanelli girl goes to the office in the morning with her long, wavy hair neatly combed, tiny gold earrings glinting, packed lunch in hand, like a normal working woman in India. But once she leaves her front gate, she holds her body tight, with shoulders hunched and arms wrapped around her, and looks down.
If she makes eye contact, a stranger at the bus stop might recognize her and point her out as the former 16-year-old who was raped by more than 40 men over more than 40 days. Worse still, if she dares to raise her face, she may spot the men themselves.
For all but one of her attackers walked free, while it is the Suryanelli girl who might as well be in prison. For 17 years now, her life has been put on hold, frozen at the night of January 16, 1996. There has been no justice, no closure that would allow her to move on and salvage the pieces of who she used to be.
It would have been easier if she had quietly disappeared, as do most of the tens of thousands of survivors of rape in India every year. Instead, her fight for an elusive justice has marked her, she says sadly, as a "shameless woman."...
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09:18 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Speaking to Karan Thapar on 'Devil's Advocate', Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan de Mistura admits that Rome made a lot of mistakes in the marines' issue. He, however, adds that the crisis is over now and India and Italy should move on as "they definitely deserve more than simply having a crisis". ...
08:45 PM, Mar 24, 2013
Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to the 31 accused in the 1996 Suryanelli gangrape case. A Division Bench comprising Justices KT Shankaran and ML Joseph Francis allowed the bail pleas filed by the accused last month. ...
11:52 AM, Mar 21, 2013
Kerala High Court on Monday directed the state government to file a statement regarding details of cases filed by the Suryanelli rape victim against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien before the magistrate and higher courts. The direction in this regard was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and justice Vinod Chandran on a PIL filed by Kamala Sadanandan, General Secretary of Kerala Mahila Sangam, a...
12:59 PM, Mar 11, 2013
The government stood firmly behind Congress leader and Rajya Sabha deputy Chairman PJ Kurien as the Suryanelli rape case came up for debate in the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said that no evidence had been found Kurien by the investigating agencies and that the lawyer who represented the rape survivor in the Supreme Court had said that no case could be made against him. ...
02:45 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Even as 111 people were booked for posting Facebook messages against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, Bindu Krishna, President of Kerala State Mahila Congress attacked them and said, "Someone posted defamatory comment on my social media for defending PJ Kurien. Those comments were against the woman community. My right ends where other person right starts. No one should be harassed in the name of right." ...
07:50 PM, Feb 25, 2013
The Kerala High Court on Monday posted till March 4 the bail hearing of 14 of the 36 accused in the Suryanelli gangrape case. The bail pleas had come up for hearing on Monday following an order from the Supreme Court. The list of the accused, however, does not include Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien. ...
02:20 PM, Feb 25, 2013
Following an order from the Supreme Court on the Suryanelli gangrape case, the Kerala High Court will start hearing the bail pleas of 14 of the 36 accused on Monday. The list does not include Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien as he is not an accused in the case. ...
08:43 AM, Feb 25, 2013
Suryanelli gangrape survivor, who had filed a fresh police complaint against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, has now sent letters to Kottayam and Idukki SPs asking them to register her plea. The survivor, along with her parents, had gone to the Chingavanam police station to file the complaint on Friday, but it was not registered by the Assistant Sub-Inspector stating that the Station House Officer (SHO) and SI were...
05:35 PM, Feb 24, 2013
Dharmarajan, the absconding convict in the Suryanelli gangrape case who was arrested from Karnataka, was sent to the sub-jail here by the District and Sessions Judge before whom he was produced on Saturday. The third accused in the 17-year-old case, Dharmarajan was arrested Friday by a special team of Kerala Police, three days after his interview to a Malayalam TV channel from an undisclosed location, wherein he alleged that Rajya...
01:45 PM, Feb 16, 2013
Amid growing clamour for resignation of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien in the Suryanelli gangrape case, his wife has rubbished the allegations against him and said those hurling "malicious charges" never bothered to appreciate sentiments of her family. ...
12:17 PM, Feb 13, 2013
A petition seeking sanction to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against former judge of Kerala High Court R Basant, whose controversial remarks on Suryanelli rape case victim has sparked off protests, was filed before the state Advocate General. ...
08:05 PM, Feb 11, 2013
The High Court Judge who acquitted the 35 accused in the Suryanelli gangrape case, was caught on camera making a controversial statement, saying the survivor was used for child prostitution and not raped. The sting operation has led to massive protests in Kerala. The survivor is now planning to take the judge to court. ...
06:43 AM, Feb 10, 2013
Stoking controversy, a former Kerala High Court judge on Saturday defended his judgement acquitting 35 accused in the Suryanelli gangrape case, in which Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien was allegedly involved, saying the victim was used for child prostitution and not raped. "There was ample evidence to show the girl was used for child prostitution, which is not rape," Justice R Basant, part of a two-judge bench that acquitted...
09:44 PM, Feb 09, 2013
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is unlikely to meet Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson PJ Kurien as the demand for his resignation grows following allegations of his involvement in the 1996 Suryanelli gangrape case. However, sources said that Congress leadership has questioned the timing of the fresh charges against Kurien. ...
03:42 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Calls for the resignation of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson PJ Kurien are increasing. The Opposition in Kerala, where Kurien hails from, has held demonstrations outside the state assembly asking for his resignation. ...
02:27 PM, Feb 06, 2013
Sixteen years have passed but the Suryanelli rape case continues to shadow PJ Kurien, the deputy speaker of the Rajya Sabha. Troubles resurfaced for the Kerala Congressman after the rape survivor sent a letter to the Supreme Court last week, asking for a review of the apex court's order quashing all charges against Kurien. ...
08:31 AM, Feb 03, 2013
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Kerala High Court verdict in the 1996 Suryanelli rape case that had acquitted 36 accused. The apex court has remanded the gangrape case of a teenaged girl back to the Kerala High Court asking it to take a fresh look at it. ...
12:59 PM, Jan 31, 2013
Kerala High Court on Monday stayed the trial against 15 accused, including KK Rageesh, MLA and CPI(M) state committee member, in the case relating to the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader TP Chandrasekharan. Justice VK Mohanan issued the order while admitting the plea of the 15 accused. ...
06:07 PM, Jan 21, 2013
The Kerala government on Tuesday opposed in the High Court the plea by two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen in February, to facilitate their visit to Italy for Christmas, saying it would "torpedo" the trial even as the Centre's response was sought by Wednesday. ...
05:06 PM, Dec 18, 2012
