ST commission team visits Rajura to take stock after school rapes

Chandrapur: A team from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) visited Rajura to take stock of the situation in the case of abuse of minor tribal girls at a hostel run by a private school. So far 10 girls have stepped forward with complaints, and medical tests have revealed eight of them were sexually abused. Many others who might have suffered similar trauma are being counselled to speak up about their plight.
Official sources informed that member of NCST Maya Iwnate accompanied by research officer of the commission Dipika Khanna visited Rajura in the morning. They inspected the school and hostel premises where the minor girls were allegedly drugged and abused. The duo also interacted with staffers of the hostel and teachers of the school and took details of behaviour changes and symptoms of trauma shown by the victim girls.
NCST member Iwnate, who had also been mayor of Nagpur earlier, also met a delegation of tribal and other organizations, and listened patiently to their pleas. The tribals staging a hunger strike before the tehsil office in Rajura met Iwnate and demanded arrest of president and secretary of institution, Subhash and Arun Dhote respectively.
They also demanded arrest of MLA Vijay Wadettiwar for making atrocious statements against the victim girls. Iwnate and Khanna also met some of the parents of victim girls and spoke in detail about the entire case and treatment given by the administration and investigating agencies to them.
Iwnate later held a meeting with district level officers, including collector Dr Kunal Khemnar, SP, and officials of tribal development, social justice, education etc at Chandrapur and took details of all aspects of the case. She was briefed about the progress of the investigation and arrests in the case.
Officials also told her about the measures being taken by the administration to counsel and compensate the victim girls and their families. Iwnate directed the officials to expedite the process of allocation of compensation and see whether they can be helped through other tribal schemes.