Zeenews Bureau
Thiruvananthapuram: More than 100 people were questioned by the Kerala Police on Monday for allegedly posting derogatory comments about the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha regarding Suryanelli gang-rape case, reports said.
The latest development came after the victim in the infamous Suryanelli sex case on Friday filed a new complaint against Congress leader PJ Kurien, whom she has accused of being among those who exploited her.
The sex scandal took place at Suryanelli in Idukki district January 1996, when the then 16-year-old was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor and was later confined and sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court today will start a fresh hearing into the gang-rape case according to a Supreme Court order issued last month.
The case would be heard by a new bench comprising of Justices KT Shankaran and ML Joseph Francis, who will hear the bail pleas of nine accused today.
The case was back in the spotlight after the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in the case Jan 31 while setting aside the acquittal in 2005 by the Kerala High Court of all but one of the 35 accused convicted by a special court.
Kurien's name never appeared in the list of accused. After the lower court found more than 42 people guilty in the 1990s, the victim then filed a private complaint against Kurien in a court in Idukki. He got a discharge in the case from the apex court in that petition.
His name resurfaced when Dharmarajan, the only accused whose conviction was upheld by the high court but who had jumped bail in 2005, told a TV channel here that Kurien had travelled in his car to Idukki. Dharmarajan was arrested from neighbouring Karnataka earlier this month.
First Published: Monday, February 25, 2013, 12:46