Idukki (Kerala), Jan 6 (PTI) Kerala police on Saturday arrested the relative of the man acquitted in the Vandiperiyar rape and murder case for allegedly attacking two members of the victim's family, police said.

Vandiperiyar police arrested Palraj (46), a close relative of Arjun, who was earlier acquitted by a local court in the case.

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Palraj had allegedly attacked the father and the grandfather of the minor girl using a sharp object after an altercation at a place near Vandiperiyar town, police said.

The accused who had escaped, was later taken into custody from Peerumedu, police added.

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The victims are now undergoing treatment at Kottayam medical college.

After the incident, Congress workers protested in front of the Vandiperiyar police station demanding protection for the victim's family.

The protest ended after senior police officials assured protection.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D satheesan today alleged that the police refused to give protection to the victim's kin despite reports of threats from the family of the acquitted youth.

The KPCC has announced a protest on January 7 at Vandiperiyar expressing solidarity with the victim's family.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the law and order situation in Kerala has deteriorated.

A POCSO court had on December 14 acquitted Arjun (24), in the case saying the "prosecution failed to establish all the circumstances which are consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence."

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court had on January 4 admitted the state government's appeal against the acquittal in the case.

The six-year-old girl was found hanging inside her house on June 30, 2021 when her parents went out for work in a nearby plantation.

Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death but the autopsy report confirmed that the child was raped before she was hanged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)