"LDF government failed in handling Soumya case"

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader and former chief minister Oommen Chandy Friday charged the CPI-M led LDF government with serious lapse in handling the Supreme Court case related to death of a 24-year-old woman, who was raped and pushed out of a running train in 2011.

The government should take immediate steps to ensure that the accused Govindachamy, who has filed an appeal in the apex court challenging the death sentence awarded to him, got maximum punishment, he told a press conference here.

"Government should consult with legal experts and take necessary follow up action," Chandy said while responding to the reports that apex court had asked prosecution to produce evidence to prove that the accused had pushed Soumya out of the train.

Soumya, an employee of a shopping mall in Kochi, was raped by the accused and pushed out of a running train in February 1, 2011.

A fast track court in Thrissur in 2012 had awarded death sentence to the accused, considered to be a habitual offender from Virudanagar in Tamil Nadu.

The Kerala High Court upheld the death sentence two years later, against which he has moved the Supreme Court.

The incident triggered an outrage in the state with protesters demanding justice for Soumya.

LDF government had changed the special public prosecutor A Suresan without any reason. He was appointed by the previous UDF government at the request of the mother of Soumya, Chandy said.

Criticising the government, KPCC President V M Sudheeran said it was a lapse on the part of government pleader not to give correct explanation to the questions of the apex court.

"A senior lawyer should be appointed as the public prosecutor and should handle the case properly," he said.