Gang rape victim shocks court saying she's spinster

Chennai, Feb 22 (UNI) The sensational case relating to the alleged gang rape of a convict's wife by Vellore Central prison staff, took a dramatic turn with the ''victim'' telling the Madras High court that she was a spinster.

Twenty-year-old Nadhiya, who was stated to be the wife of Ganesan, a convict lodged in Vellore Central Prison, was produced before the court this afternoon after the convict filed a writ of habeas corpus.

The convict submitted that his wife Nadhiya, while visiting him in the prison, told him that she was gang raped by four of the prison staff and she was found missing after she visited him in November last.

After the court came down heavily on the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) for his lackadaisical approach in handling the case, the police acted swiftly and traced Nadhiya in Tirupur yesterday and brought her to the court this morning.

When she was produced before the court this afternoon, Nadhiya, much to the surprise of many present in the court, told the judges that she was not married, giving a new twist to the case.

After recording her statement Justices D Murugesan and V Periakaruppaiah, who constituted a division bench, allowed her to go with her mother and appear before the court on February 25, when the case would come up for hearing again.

When Nadhiya was produced before the court in the morning, the bench expressed the desire to hold an in-camera enquiry with her and pass orders in the afternoon, but for reasons not known immediately, the bench asked the police to produce her in the open court itself.

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