VISAKHAPATNAM: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the fast-tracking of a case relating to the alleged gang-rape of 11 tribal women by 13 Greyhounds personnel of the undivided Andhra Pradesh back in 2007.
In doing so, it struck down an appeal by the accused police personnel challenging a magistrate’s order, taking cognizance of the complaint of the victims.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising justices Arun Mishra and Shantana Goudar, ruled that the criminal trial must now be heard every day and concluded within six months. The judges expressed shock that the case has been dragged for 10 years, undermining the confidence of the tribal women in the criminal justice system.
The incident took place on August 20, 2007, in the agency area of Visakhapatnam district, in a tribal village named Vakapalle in G Madugula mandal. Eleven women belonging to the Kondh tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), were allegedly gangraped at gunpoint by Greyhounds personnel at 11 in the morning when male members of the village were away in the fields.
The Greyhounds personnel had gone to the village while carrying out a combing operation against the Maoists.
An FIR was lodged against the Greyhounds personnel under Sections 376 (ii) (g) of the Indian Penal Code (gang rape) and Section 3 (2) (V) of the SC ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) 1989. However, the police claimed the Maoists forced women to foist a gangrape case against the Greyhounds personnel to malign their image.
The AP Girijana Samakhya moved the High Court, but the court ruled that the medical examination of the victims showed no sign of rape. However, the victims said they were sent for medical examinations late deliberately to dilute the evidence. “The accused policemen have tried to use every legal tactic to ensure that the criminal trial does not begin and managed to halt it for a decade,” said Human Rights Forum general secretary VS Krishna.
On Friday, the apex court, while dismissing the plea of the accused Greyhounds personnel seeking to quash proceedings, observed that the women victims had the rights to justice through criminal trial.
“The trials will be held at the Paderu Sessions Court. The Supreme Court said that the judgment should be delivered expeditiously and on day-to-day basis,” said High Court senior advocate Vasudha Nagaraj, who has been closely associated with the case.