The Special Court constituted to handle SC /ST Atrocities Act in Visakhapatnam, and which has been designated to conduct the trials of the Vakapalli gang-rape case, has given a fresh schedule for hearing, which is scheduled to begin on August 23. The trial was set to begin on Monday, but the special public prosecutor (SPP) has asked for some more time, as the records pertaining to the case, which he was entitled to, is still to reach him.
All the nine victims who are also the complainants in the case and the accused were present at the court on Monday.
On August 20, 2007, 11 adivasi women of Vakapalli village in Nurmati panchayat of G. Madugula mandal in the Agency region of Visakhapatnam district, were allegedly gang-raped by the personnel of Greyhounds, the elite anti-naxal force of Andhra Pradesh.
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Subsequent investigation has revealed that the men in question were not from the Greyhounds but from the AP Special Police, who form part of the security deployment in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district, and are used in combing and anti-Maoist operations. After over a decade of struggle for justice, the Supreme Court in last August, had ordered that the case be heard by a Special Court constituted to handle SC /ST Atrocities Act in Visakhapatnam, but till date the trial has not begun. “We are hopeful that it would begin on August 23, as we have been waiting for justice since long. Two out of the 11, have already died,” said a victim.