"This is not something that our state can be proud of. It's a serious matter."
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that the acquittal of the accused in the 2021 rape and murder case of a six-year-old is not something the state can be proud of.
Addressing the media as part of the state government's outreach programme, Nava Kerala Sadas, Mr Vijayan said the acquittal is a serious matter, and the government will investigate and take necessary action.
"This is not something that our state can be proud of. It's a serious matter, and we will look into it and take necessary action. We have already decided to file an appeal. The court has also made certain observations, and such matters will be considered," Vijayan said.
His statement came amid mounting criticism from the opposition that the state government and the police failed to provide necessary evidence to prove the guilt.
The fast-track special court at Idukki for the trial of offences under the POCSO Act had on Thursday acquitted the accused -Arjun - saying that the "prosecution failed to establish all the circumstances which are consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence."
Launching a scathing attack on the government, the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, V D Satheesan, said that the verdict was "shocking and disappointing."
"The judgment clearly highlights the mistakes made by the investigating officer, with the judge pointing out numerous faults. The investigating officer did not even bother to reach the crime scene on the day of the incident. The prosecution failed to present any clear evidence, and the evidence provided was contradictory," Mr Satheesan alleged.
He said that the police failed to gather the necessary evidence.
"The incident clearly reveals the lackadaisical approach of the Kerala police in investigating a serious case of rape and murder involving a six-year-old child," Mr Satheesan said.
The girl was found hanging inside her house on June 30, 2021 when her parents went out for work in a nearby plantation.
Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death, but the autopsy report confirmed that the child was raped before she was hanged.
In its verdict, the special court had said that in cases of unnatural death, it was the bounden duty of the investigating officer to reach the place of occurrence without any delay, inspect the premises, collect all evidence and notice every minute details with care and caution till the mystery was unravelled.
The court said that in this case, the investigating officer (IO) adopted a "lethargic attitude" throughout the investigation.
It also said that the "unscientific way of collecting evidence without showing the shrewdness and intelligence reasonably expected from an investigating officer seriously affected the prompt and timely collection of evidence in the case".
Soon after the verdict, the Kerala police said they would move an appeal in the case.
The police had earlier claimed that it seemed like he had raped her many times in the past. However, on June 30, the child fell unconscious during his rape attempt and thinking that she was dead, he hanged her, police had said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)