The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state police to proceed against retired DGP Siby Mathews for allegedly disclosing the identity of the survivor in the 1996 Sooryanelli rape case through his book “Nirbhayam: Oru IPS Officerude Anubhavakurippukal”.

A single bench of Justice A Badharudeen said that registration of FIR would be necessary in the case as the details revealed in the book were sufficient to identify the victim which is punishable under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which prohibits publishing information that could reveal the identity of a rape victim.

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“Even though the name of the victim was not specifically disclosed, the details of the parents of the victim, the place where the victim and parents resided, the school where the victim studied, were disclosed in detail. This disclosure prima facie shows commission of offence punishable under Section 228A of the IPC,” the court said.

The Court directed the Station House Officer, Mannanthala to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether Siby Mathews has disclosed the details of the identity of the rape victim in the Sooryanelli case in his book ‘Nirbhayam: Oru IPS Officerude’ Anubhavakurippukal’, potentially committing a cognizable offence warranting registration of FIR.

A retired police officer KK Joshwa approached the High Court seeking action against Siby Mathews after Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner refused to act on his complaint.

Justice A Badharudeen recently quashed the order issued by the police commissioner, who said that there was no need to register a crime against Siby Mathews.

“On reading the preliminary enquiry final report and the legal opinion, I have no hesitation to say that the finding in the final report is an attempt to save the former higher police official from the clutches of prosecution. As per the preliminary enquiry final report and the legal opinion given by the Director General of Prosecution, both of them found that the details were sufficient enough to identify the girl as ‘peedippikkapetta penkutti’ (victim).

“When analysing the Malayalam term ‘peedippikkapetta penkutti’ the same means a victim of ‘sexual assault’ or ‘molestation’ or ‘rape’. So the word would carry the offences dealt in Section 228A of IPC. Apart from referring the girl as “peedippikkapetta penkutti”, her identity as a ‘rape victim’ is discernible from the book itself otherwise,” the court said.

The petitioner KK Joshwa had lodged complaints with the Mannanthala Police Station and the District Police Chief in Thiruvananthapuram, urging them to register FIR against Siby Mathews who had disclosed identifiable information about the victim of the 1996 Sooryanelli rape case in his memoir “Nirbhayam:. Oru IPS Officerude Anubhavakurippukal”.

Dissatisfied with the police’s inaction, he approached the High Court, which then directed the authorities to consider his complaints.

However, the Commissioner of Police responded that no further action would be taken, prompting the petitioner to approach the High Court again seeking directions to the Police to register FIR.