KOZHIKODE: The appointment of Mammadkutti alias Mammootty as a staff member at the boys’ home under the social justice department at Vellimadukunnu, Kozhikode, has raised many eyebrows as he is an accused in the multiple sexual abuse cases against the inmates of the girls’ home under the same department. The city police had also issued a look-out notice for him earlier.
DC on Saturday had reported about his appointment with free access to all institutions, including the girls’ home whose inmates had complained against him.
The appointment order issued by director, social justice department, shows that the reappointment was not a mistake but done with the concurrence of the minister’s office.
The order, a copy of which is with DC, says that there was a complaint against P.K. Mammadkutti, the electrician-cum-pump operator at the children’s home for boys, that he had sexually abused some girls at the girls’ home.
The hapless girls have to fight a legal battle to ensure punishment to a culprit who subjected them to sexual torture. The disciplinary procedures against Mammadkutti can be completed based on the final verdict in the criminal case registered against him, says the order.
“If this is the way the institution is functioning we can expect more such stories of abuse from institutions under the social justice department,” said Adv Swapna Parameswarath of Punarjani. “It is a shame that such a thing happened in Kerala,” she added.
The order further says that the reappointment was made as the High Court had quashed the case against him after the issue was settled out of court.
However, the second page of the order says that it is improper to appoint Mammadkutti in the department as two girls still stick to the allegations and a criminal case was registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
The order further says that the appointment was limited only to the boys’ home and the authorities should ensure that the accused will not interact with any of the other inmates.
The question is why the department took so much pain to appoint an abuser in the same institution.
