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More than nine months after a young tribal woman from Odisha was sexually assaulted in Kochi, at the house she worked in, no charge sheet has been filed in the case. The woman, then 23 years old, had only been working at the house for a few days when she was allegedly raped by her 75-year-old employer.
The accused, K Sivaprasad, who is out on bail, had a career holding top posts at a number of government organisations. After coming out on bail, he made a plea to modify the bail conditions to allow him permission to travel outside the country. The Kochi court, however, rejected his plea.
If the chargesheet continues to be delayed, there is a chance that he might go to a higher court and get the bail order modified, said Advocate Sandhya Raju, who represents the survivor in the case. The police have reportedly cited the delay in getting forensic reports as a reason for the delay in filing the chargesheet.
In October 2024, the survivor had travelled from Odisha, at the behest of a relative, to work as a domestic worker in Kochi’s Vytila. The assault took place on October 15, allegedly at a time when no one else but Sivaprasad and she had been at the house. The survivor stated in her police complaint that he had spiked a glass of juice and compelled her to drink it, causing her to pass out in her room before he allegedly assaulted her.
The next day, when she was left alone in the house by the family, she alerted a cousin, who got in touch with the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID). Social workers from the CMID immediately reached the spot and rescued her from the house. She filed a case with the Maradu police the same evening and also went through a medical examination that confirmed rape. The woman was then shifted to a government shelter in Kochi, where she stayed for a while before finding employment again.
