New Delhi:
Tomorrow, the government will address the controversy surrounding PJ Kurien, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who has been accused of rape.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath will make a statement in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow, outlining the basic facts that Mr Kurien has been repeating in his defence over the last few weeks. He has stressed that the Supreme Court exonerated him in 2007 of any links to the Suryanelli rape case.
In 1996, a school girl from Suryanelli in Kerala was abducted and raped by 42 men in 40 days. In 2005, 35 men were tried for the crime and all but one were acquitted by the Kerala High Court. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court asked for a retrial.
Since then, the rape survivor has reiterated charges she made over a decade ago of Mr Kurien being among the men who assaulted her. She says he was not investigated thoroughly by the police because of his political clout. Opposition parties, especially the Left, have been demanding Mr Kurien's removal from office while his alleged links to the case are re-examined. Left leaders held a protest outside Parliament today to make their point.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), which does not participate in the ruling coalition but offers external support, today offered support for Mr Kurien, who wrote a letter this week to all parliamentarians refuting the rape charges. "There is no case and you can't bring up an issue after 20 years," said senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
Tomorrow, Parliament is scheduled to begin a debate on new anti-rape laws introduced by the government amid national outrage over the fatal gang-rape of a Delhi student in December. Parliament has to clear those new laws within six weeks. Mr Kurien's critics argue that it would be inappropriate for him to chair discussions on the topic given the the allegations against him.