Migrant labour's rape: Madras HC calls for safety measures
CHENNAI: Observing that migrants coming to work are becoming victims of sexual assault, a division bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Inspector General of Police (Western Zone) to expedite investigation into the rape case of a migrant woman labourer near Tirupur. Justices N Kirubakaran and P Velmurugan orally made the observation, while hearing a plea seeking better facilities to the migrant population.
The 22-year-old woman from Assam, was allegedly gang raped on Monday, and four men in connection to the case were arrested the following day. The prime suspect, one among the arrested, befriended the victim, and asked her to come to Kallimedu village promising to get her a better job, the police had said, adding that she was raped by six men and robbed, after she reached the spot.
Justice Kirubakaran observed, “India, considered to be a spiritual land, is soon becoming a rapist land. Every 15 minutes, a woman is being raped”. The bench also commented on the rape of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh, and said there was no security for women in the country. While directing the IG to do a proper investigation on the entire Tirupur incident, the judge also asked the victim to be provided with proper compensation.
The court, during the previous hearing, had directed the Central government’s counsel to file a detailed report on the number of labourers who had died on their way to native states. The bench added that migrants were not provided with proper wages for the amount of work they were being made to do by their employers.
The judge further said that the Centre should have approached all states to collect those details, and wondered how could the union government make statements in the Parliament saying there was no data on the migrant exodus. The counsel however, sought more time to file the report. Recording the submissions, the court adjourned the plea.