More than five years after four women belonging to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) community were allegedly raped by policemen attached to the Tirukoilur Police Station, the survivors are still battling for justice despite the Madras High Court directing the State government to decide over granting permission to prosecute the accused personnel.
The alleged rape, involving five police personnel, was committed on November 22, 2011.
A week later, the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced compensation for the women and promised a probe and action against the accused. Although she placed them under suspension, it was revoked by the High Court on the ground that the charge-sheet was not filed at that time.
The accused policemen are still in service, while the women await justice attending endless enquiries by the Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police in Villupuram.
“We have been called for enquiry every now and then but every time they will start as if they are asking us for information for the first time. Those policemen, who raped us, are still wearing their uniforms when they come for enquiry. We don’t know when this will come to an end,” Jaya (name changed) told The Hindu . She is a daily wage labourer in Ulundurpettai.
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Jaya and the three other women are often being called for enquiry, which she contends is leading nowhere. “We want them to be removed from service for rape. This should not happen to any woman,” she says in a stern voice.
Initially, an FIR was registered against Inspector Srinivasan, Special Sub Inspector Ramanathan, Head Constable Dhanasekaran and constables Bhakthavachalam and Karthikeyan under various sections including 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and the Section 3 (1) (xii) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
On the order of the then Chief Minister, a Deputy Superintendent of Police filed a common status report before Judicial Magistrate, Tirukoilur, and the final report has been filed under various Sections including 376 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
There was a huge delay on the part of the government in this case, which was questioned on multiple occasions by the judges of the Madras High Court during the hearing of two writ petitions.
A perusal of its orders suggests that the Magistrate initially didn’t probe the case expeditiously and hence was sent to the Judicial Academy for appropriate training.
The fact that the report of the Judicial Magistrate didn’t provide the findings of the probe initially and the delay in performing the medical examination on the women only point to the way in which the case was handled by authorities.
“There were attempts to prevent these women from filing their complaint. Even the suspension order against the culprits was revoked eventually,” says activist Prabha Kalvimani, who along with another activist P.V. Ramesh of Pazhangudi Irula Padhukappu Sangam, have been assisting these women.
Despite repeated attempts to know about the status of the case, response could not be obtained from a senior police officer, who is supervising the case.
