HC tells govt to pay Rs3L to Rajura rape survivors

Nagpur: Lending a helping hand to the minor survivors who were alleged to have been sexually abused at a tribal school in Rajura in Chandrapur, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs3 lakh compensation to them.
The chief secretary was told to file an affidavit by Thursday, giving details on a policy formulation to prevent recurrence of such incidents, steps taken against the school management, rehabilitation of survivors, and progress of investigations so far.

Before deferring the hearing till Friday, a division bench comprising justices Zaka Haq and Vinay Joshi also asked the petitioners — mothers of survivors — to add management of ‘Infant Jesus English Public High School’ as respondents in the case and issued it a notice. They included chairman Subhash Dhote and secretary Arun Dhote, according to petitioners.

While delivering an interim order, the HC clarified that the compensation would be deposited with its registry and specially constituted panel under Chandrapur additional session judge SS Ansari would take final call on disbursal of the “relief amount” which was granted as Atrocities Act’s provisions. The amount is to be deposited into account of the mothers as the survivors are minor in the age group of 11-13 years.

The judges however made it clear that the amount couldn’t be withdrawn by the mothers till HC’s further orders and banks should be instructed in this regard. They also kept the preliminary report of investigations submitted by Ansari-led panel in a sealed envelope.

Top officials from the state tribal development department, including joint secretary and commissioner, SP and deputy SP of CID, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) and social worker Paromita Goswami attended the hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel Firdos Mirza pointed out that as per laws, the victims need to be immediately compensated. If they were paid, other survivors and their parents, who’re reluctant to come forward, would be motivated to spill the beans. He informed that the government had extended grants of Rs20 crore to the school’s management for various welfare measures, but did nothing for the tribal girls.

He also informed about similar incidents taken place in Butibori and Yavatmal, but no steps taken to address the problem. “Why norms are not framed for regular inspection of such hostels by the female officers, so that victims could talk freely? This (incident) is recurring and a mechanism is needed to curb it,” the judges said.

Earlier, the SP Chandrapur CV Maheshwar Reddy filed an affidavit through counsel Tehsin Mirza stating that the probe was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the DGP, considering the role of various government departments and complex nature of the crime. A woman SP was appointed to probe the case. He informed that the investigation is at crucial stage and all accused are still in the police custody remand (PCR) till Thursday.

Plans to shift students to Eklavya school: Collector

The Tribal Department has plans to shift students to Eklavya Model Residential School at Dewada which is also in Rajura. Chandrapur collector in his affidavit informed that department is planning to shift maximum students so there is a minimum inconvenience of transition to the school. He added that the Tribal Department passed an order removing the school from ‘Namankit Shala Yojna’ and instructed ITDP project officer to start shifting 292 students. The ITDP is now identifying the suitable residential schools and will complete the shifting, during summer vacation, he said.

The collector visited ‘Infant Jesus English Public High School’ with SP and asked ZP Education Officer took its charge, as per HC’s directives of April 18. “Necessary directives have been given to all concerned officers and staff that no person, including the school’s office-bearers should interfere with the administration or visit there without prior permission of the HC committee,” he said.