Around 21 policemen accused of gang-raping 11 Kondh Adivasi women, 16 years ago at a village in Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh were acquitted by a Special Court in Vishakhapatnam.
The special court observed that the accused were primarily acquitted because of the failure of the two investigating officers to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.
The women, belonging to the PVTG (particularly vulnerable tribal group) were allegedly gang-raped in 2007 by the police personnel of a special team, Greyhounds.
The trial started in Visakhapatnam in 2018, concluding on Thursday with the XI Additional District and Sessions Judge- cum-Special Court under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act acquitting the policemen because of malafide investigation, as per an NDTV report.
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Meanwhile, the Court ordered the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to pay compensation to the rape survivors.
As per the Human Rights Forum (HRF), none of the 21 accused policemen were arrested in the case and some of them went on to successfully superannuate while some died.
HRF- Andhra Pradesh State Committee vice-president, M Sarat, alleged: "The Greyhounds forces had raped 11 tribal women in August 2007 and a police complaint was filed against them but not even a single accused person was arrested." The forum said that a 21-member special police party went to Vakapally village on August 20, 2007, for combing operations, where they sexually assaulted the 11 Adivasi women belonging to the particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG).
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"The very fact that the Court has ordered compensation to be paid to the Vakapally rape survivors shows that the Court reposed faith in their depositions," HRF pointed out.
The forum also observed that the probe against the accused policemen was compromised at the very beginning and carried out with the motive to protect them, disregarding procedures mandated by the criminal code while the forensic medical examinations were corrupted.
