Though nothing much has changed for the nine surviving gang-rape victims in the last 11 years, Vakapalli has changed a lot.
In 2007, when the incident occurred, the village was not connected by road and one had to trek at least 3 to 4 km from Nurmati to reach there. But now, one can just drive down to the village.
All the huts are gone, and today the residents live in pucca-tiled houses with water connection, power and many have colour television and dish antennas.
The only thing that we do not have is cell connectivity. We have to walk at least 2 km to get connected, said a resident. “Our village is a model village under the CCDP (Conservation cum Development Plan for PvTGs) under the ITDA programme,” he added
The village that has about 160 families predominantly from the Kondhu and Konda Dora tribes, did not know any other language apart from the native tongue. But today, it boasts four to five youngsters who are qualified and of whom two are said to be studying B. Tech in private colleges.
