It was revealed that the mother, who is now arraigned as an accused for abetting the rape of the children, used to watch obscene videos on Pradeep’s phone and used the elder child as the carrier of the device. Some of the classmates of child also deposed that she used to watch sexual content on the mobile phone, the CBI said.

During the further investigation, witnesses’ statements revealed that John Praveen was a regular visitor to the victim’s house during the period. John was called by the state police for examination on April 25, 2017, but he did not appear before the investigators and was found hanging from a tree in Attappallam. Walayar police concluded that it was a case of suicide.

The CBI then filed an application before the Special Court to forward the suicide note of the deceased to CFSL for the retrieval of the obliterated writings. But the plea was dismissed by the court, stating: “If no useful purpose will be served by examination of the note recovered from the scene, then it need not be sent for forensic examination.”

Another accused, Madhu alias Kutty Madhu, was found dead in an old factory building at Binanipuram, near Aluva, on October 25, 2023. Binanipuram police registered a case, and a chargesheet was filed against Niyas for committing the offence under section 342 (wrongful confinement), 306 (abetment of suicide), and sections under the SC/ST Act. The mobile phone recovered from the scene has been sent to FSL, Thiruvananthapuram, for forensic retrieval, which is awaited, the CBI said.