Supreme Court has set aside Kerala High Court verdict acquitting 35 accused in the Suryanelli gangrape case. It has send back the case to Kerala High Court for a fresh look at it.

The Suryanelli rape case concerns a 16-year-old girl who was sexually harassed and assaulted continuously for 40 days by 42 men in 1996.

The girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district of Kerala was transported from place to place across Kerala.

The accused included some well-known and well-placed individuals.

The girl was enticed, threatened, abducted and sexually exploited by a bus conductor on January 16, 1996.

Subsequently, she was transferred to the custody of two other persons, one of whom was a woman and the other an advocate.

The duo presented her to several men, including prominent persons, in various places in Kerala.

In 1999, under public pressure, the government set up the State's first-ever Special Court to try a case of sexual assault.

In 2000, the Special Court sentenced 35 persons to rigorous imprisonment for varying terms.

On 20 January 2005 Kerala High Court acquitted the 35 convicted and found only one guilty of crimes related to the sex trade.