Plea seeks probe into children's 'suicides' in Palakkad; Kerala HC seek's panel report

Kochi, Sep 16 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Tuesday sought a report from the state child rights commission on a plea seeking constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegedly "suspicious deaths" of 28 children between 2010 and 2023 in the border area of Palakkad district.

A bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji asked the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to file a report before the next date of hearing on October 7.

The direction came on a joint plea moved by several social activists, including the vicar of the St Augustine Syro-Malabar church, who have claimed that 28 children's suicide by hanging were "either homicidal or suspicious".

Their petition has claimed that "investigation of all of these cases has been stonewalled for mysterious reasons. All of these cases were initially closed as suicides".

"The deceased children belong to the most impoverished and marginalised sections of society. The victims, due to their lack of education and ignorance of their legal rights, were unable to challenge the conclusions of the police and seek justice." "All these suspicious deaths happened in an area where the residents are economically and socially disadvantaged," the petition, filed through advocate P V Jeevesh, further said.

It has sought directions to the state government and the police to constitute an SIT to probe the deaths and that the investigation be monitored by the court. PTI HMP HMP SA