GONDIA: A 19-year-old tribal girl from Maharashtra's Gondia district who was once a member of a Naxal squad has cleared the Class 12 board examination, and is aspiring to join the police force.
Rajula Ravelsingh Hidami, resident of Lavhari village in Kurkheda tehsil of the eastern Maharashtra district, cleared the state board exam with 45.83 per cent marks, a senior police official said.
The results of the board examination were declared earlier this week.
Rajula was abducted by Naxals in 2016-17 when she was grazing cattle near her village, and forcibly inducted into the Kurkheda Korchi Deori (KKD) dalam (squad), the official said.
She was given arms training and was allegedly involved in an incident of violence against the police too, he said.
The police's intelligence wing received information that she wished to leave the banned outfit, following which police helped her escape in 2018, the official said.
Rajula surrendered before then additional superintendent of police Sandeep Athole.
Considering her young age, senior officers counselled her and convinced her to join the mainstream of society, he said.
Athole, now the superintendent of police of the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Aurangabad, became her guardian, and with the help of tribal development project officer Jitendra Chaudhari, helped her enrol in a tribal residential school.
Rajula had studied upto Class 7 before she was abducted.
Back at school, she resumed her studies and some police personnel even tutored her.
She managed to clear the Class 10 exam in 2021, and now she has passed the Class 12 examination too, the police official said.
Speaking to reporters, Rajula said she wanted to complete graduation and join the police force.
She has realised the importance of education, she said, appealing to others like her to give up violence and join the mainstream.
Gondia Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pingale felicitated her on Saturday.