HC asks govt for status of Vachathi tribal torture case

Chennai, Feb 27 (UNI) Madras High Court today directed CBI and Tamil Nadu Government to submit the status of the Vachathi case relating to the alleged rape, attack and torture of tribals by Forest and Police officials in Vachathi village in Dharmapuri District in 1992.

A Division Bench comprising Justices S J Mukopadhya and R Sudhakar also directed the CBI and State Government to explain why the trial had not been completed for the past 11 years, while posting to March 2, further hearing of the petition filed by Tamil Nadu Tribals Association.

The petitioner sought a direction to the state government to issue notification for constituting a Special Court and appointing a special public prosecutor in the case.

In his petition Association general secretary P Shanmugham said the people of Vachathi brutally attacked by forest and police officials for three days from June 20, 1992. The then Rajya Sabha member and later CPI(M) secretary A Nallasivan filed a petition before this court and on February 24, 1995 it directed the CBI to investigate the complaint by 18 women of Vachathi village and detention of 90 women and 28 children by the Forest Range Office.

The CBI report filed on April 23, 1996 confirmed the allegation of rape, torture, assault, humiliation, damage to property of tribals by forest and police officials. A chargesheet dated April 23, 1996 was also filed against 269 people. Based on this, the High Court allowed the petition with some directions, he added.

He said the criminal case against 269 people was now pending before the Dharmapuri District Sessions Court. As far as the CBI was concerned, special public prosecutors had been notified to conduct the trial before any special court. But they could not appear in special courts constituted by the state government unless a notification was issued in the official gazette.

Despite several representations, this issue had been completely neglected by successive governments for the last ten years, he said.

UNI