215 sentenced to jail in Vachathi case

CPIM cadres under the leadership of Com. Dili Babu MLA held demonstration hailing the verdict

More than 19 years after forest and police officials descended on Vachathi, a tribal hamlet in western Tamil Nadu, and committed atrocities on hapless villagers in a raid said to be against sandalwood smuggling, a district and sessions court here on Thursday found 215 government officials and employees guilty and handed down prison terms ranging from two years to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Seventeen persons were convicted of the charge of rape. 

Among the senior officials found guilty by Principal District and Sessions Judge S. Kumaraguru were a retired Conservator of Forests, two serving Conservators and an Additional Chief Conservator of Forests. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which was directed by the Madras High Court to investigate the case, arraigned 269 officials of the Forest, Police and Revenue Departments, but only 215 lived to receive the verdict in a court thronged by victims, their family members and activists who had supported them over the years. The remaining 54 officials are dead.

On June 20, 1992, a large contingent of officials entered Vachathi following information that sandalwood was being illegally felled and smuggled. The team claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of sandalwood from a riverbed. 

Later, the villagers complained that under the pretext of conducting a search, the raiding party had ransacked their property, destroyed houses and killed their cattle.

The most shocking charge was that the men in uniform had raped 18 women. The State government denied the charges. The then Forests Minister, K.A. Sengottaiayan, now Agriculture Minister, had accused the entire village of being involved in sandalwood smuggling, and when a team of officials went there for investigation, the villagers had attacked them. 

However, in 1995, on a writ petition filed by the then CPI (M) State secretary, A. Nallasivan, the Madras High Court handed over the probe to the CBI, which charge-sheeted the 269 officials. Later, compensation was paid to the victims.

The senior-most official convicted was the first accused, M. Harikrishnan, a retired Conservator of Forests, who was awarded a three-year prison term under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code for causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen the offender, and another three years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs.1,000 in fine under Section 3(2)(1) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Accused number 2, Additional Chief Conservator of Forests P. Muthaiyan, was sentenced to jail for a year under Section 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC. Conservator of Forests, Dindigul, L.Nathan was given a one-year term. S. Balaji, Conservator of Forests, Chennai, was awarded three-year rigorous imprisonment on three counts, but the terms would run concurrently. He was also fined Rs.5,000.

A long, agonising wait for justice ends

The excruciating wait for justice was nearly two decades long for the people of Vachathi, a tribal hamlet in Pappireddipatti taluk, 50 km away from Dharmapuri and 16 km from Harur. Jubilation was writ large on the faces of the victims and their family members, as the final verdict of the trial court came. Some of them broke down on hearing the verdict.

‘I was just 13 then when dragged me by the hair, abused me in foul language and raped me on the bund of a lake,” recalled a victim, now 33 years old, who came to the court premises with her husband and children to watch justice being meted out.

“When I pleaded that I was a small girl studying eighth standard, the men in khaki responded saying ‘Being a girl is enough'. I was waiting with bated breath for the 19 years hoping that the long arm of justice will not spare the offenders,” he said. Her entire family was happy as the verdict, she said, came as a healing balm after barbaric acts had pushed them to the edge of their lives.

“Though it was done by men in the lower ranks, the officials were in the know of the whole incident and watched everything from a distance and it all happened with their sanction."

Paranthayi, a woman in her late 30s, said her 16-year-old daughter (name withheld) was dragged and stripped right in front of her. The men forced their way into the house showering choicest abuses. “My daughter who was taken away by 2.45 p.m. was brought back only at 9 p.m., only to be taken to the forest office at night. She has managed to survive the trauma and is in court today with her husband and three children. Our only mistake is that we hail from a suppressed community," she said.

Reacting to the judgement, P. Shamugam, State president of the Tamil Nadu Tribals Association, said in this case the verdict made up for the long and agonising wait. The delay was primarily due to the lack of co-operation and dilatory tactics adopted by those who held high offices in government. Mr.Shanmugam said though Rs 1.25 crore had been disbursed as compensation in two phases, it was disappointing.

CPI(M) MLA P. Dilli Babu said the case and the verdict were historic. “The verdict has assuaged the hurt feelings of the victims. The efforts taken by Tribals Association, AIDWA and CPI(M) have not been in vain. With regard to higher compensation for the victims of rape and those who lost their property and livelihood, CPI (M) will fight legally,” he said.

S. Chrisa Mary, president of the Dharmapuri District Unit of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), said: “It is a victory for the poor and the suppressed, and a befitting lesson to the bureaucracy and the Government.”

D.S. Kavitha, AIDWA Dharmapuri unit secretary, said the compensation of Rs 15,000 each to the 18 victims of rape is inadequate and AIDWA will fight for getting it enhanced. 

(Courtesy : The Hindu)