In April 2009, a Class IX student from Paravur was raped and sold for sex by her own father. Over the next two years, she was allegedly taken to different parts of Kerala and places like Mysore, Coimbatore and Bangalore, where she was sold to men.
More than two years after the case came to light, the investigation and trial continue, leaving the victim worried about her future.
The girl has been living at the Government Girls' Home at Kakkanad after both her parents were listed as accused in the case and she began receiving death threats. As the girl’s education and rehabilitation came under threat from the slow pace of probe and trial, the High Court last year ordered that all charge sheets in the case should be filed and trial completed before May 31, 2013. The process of investigation and trial is sure to overshoot the deadline.
Each case of the child’s abuse is being considered as separate cases, requiring the police to file 52 charge sheets. Sixteen charges have been submitted already, of which three have been tried and convictions awarded. The girl is the main witness in the cases and her presence is required in court as the 102 persons arrested by the police are each tried in court.
“At this rate, it will be at least 10 years before the case is completed,” said counsel for the girl P.A. Ayub Khan. He said the girl was a bright student and wished to complete her studies. “She scored 96 per cent in her Class IX examinations. In Class X, when the incidents of the case were happening, the girl managed to score 76 per cent. With great difficulty she managed to write her Class XI exams this year,” he said.
The Paravur victim is only one of the many minor victims of rape whose ordeals continue even after police cases are registered. The victim of the Varapuzha sex scandal, who also lives at the Kakkanad Government Girls' Home, faces a similar uncertainty. She was allegedly sold by her parents for a sum of Rs. 1 lakh two years ago. Like the Paravur victim, she too turns 18 this year and may have to leave the home.
Over 24,000 cases of rape were reported in the country in 2011. Effective rehabilitation of these victims with focus on education and vocational training was one of the key points mentioned by the Justice Verma committee that looked into possible amendments in criminal laws related to sexual violence against women. The two teenage girls from Paravur and Varapuzha, meanwhile, live in fear of what the future holds for them.
