The high court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has upheld the convictions of numerous government officials for committing atrocities against tribal people, including the rape of 18 women, three decades ago.
The convicted individuals include police officers and officials from the forest and revenue departments. They had launched an attack on the tribal community in June 1992, accusing them of assisting the notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. During the attack, they assaulted men, raped women, vandalized homes, and killed livestock. This incident has become known as the Vachathi case, named after the village where it occurred.
All 269 accused individuals initially denied the allegations against them. However, in 2011, a trial court found them guilty under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, with 17 of them also convicted of rape. As 54 of the accused passed away during the trial, the remaining 215 men were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to ten years. These convicts subsequently appealed their sentences in the Madras High Court in Chennai.
A lawyer representing the survivors stated that most of the convicts had been out on bail, with only the 17 men convicted of rape having spent any significant time in prison.
Recently, Justice P Velmurugan ordered the state to provide each victim with compensation of 1 million rupees ($12,034) and suitable employment. The judgment also called for strict action against the senior-most district official, forest official, and superintendent of police at that time.
In the 1990s, the area where Vachathi is located saw intense search operations by law enforcement officials attempting to apprehend Veerappan, India’s most ruthless bandit, accused of over 100 murders, kidnapping, smuggling, and poaching (he was eventually killed by police in 2004). Authorities often visited Vachathi, accusing villagers of aiding the smuggler and being involved in sandalwood smuggling.
On the morning of June 20, 1992, a confrontation between villagers and forest department officials occurred during one such visit, resulting in injuries to a forester. Subsequently, a large team of forest personnel, policemen, and revenue officials raided the village, finding mostly women, children, and elderly men, as most of the men had fled to nearby hills, where they remained in hiding for months.
During the raid, the attackers brutally beat men and women, looted homes, killed livestock, and repeatedly raped 18 women. Over 100 women and children were detained and imprisoned for months on false charges. Twenty years later, the high court dismissed these cases, deeming them “maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive.”
The incident was characterized by The Hindu newspaper as an example of the harm that brutal law enforcers and callous government officials can inflict on the poor and powerless. A prominent banyan tree in the center of the village stands as a witness to the assault.
Survivors recently told Tamil that men, women, and children were forced to gather near the tree and were subjected to severe beatings. Eighteen young women and girls were separated from the group and taken to a nearby lake, where they were repeatedly raped.
The tribal community’s struggle for justice has been long and arduous, with numerous obstacles along the way. Initially, officials denied any wrongdoing, and the police refused to register complaints. Courts rejected their pleas, arguing that police and government officials could not have committed such crimes. Only through the support of activists and the determination of rape survivors was justice finally served in the Vachathi case.
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