Rape charge against STF false: RDO probe

By R.Sundaram

ERODE, NOV. 2. Four Special Task Force personnel accused of having raped a tribal woman in Kadambur near here have been given a clean chit by a Revenue Divisional Officer.

According to Mrs V. Santha, RDO, Gobichettipalayam, the 25 year- old tribal woman, Rani herself denied that she was raped. She refuted that any such incident had taken place.

The RDO, in her report, said that when she enquired Rani of Ukkiliyam in Kadmabur in the Guthiyalathur forests, the woman categorically stated no STF personnel had met her, leave alone molesting or raping her.

A team of the STF personnel including a sub-inspector had gone to Ukkiliyam on October 16 to interrogate Rani's husband, Basuvaraj, and his brother, Anandaraj, who were suspected to have supplied rations to the forest brigand, Veerappan's gang.

Basuvaraj's mother, Kembi, informed the STF police that the two had gone to the sugarcane fields. They were later picked up by the STF police.

The next day, Kembi, along with her relatives, Rangammal and Pasuvammal, went to the STF camp, where they were informed that Basuvaraj had been sent back home after interrogation.

When Kembi was returning home, some persons accosted her and offered to help her prefer a police complaint. They wrote a complaint on which Kembi, an illiterate, affixed her thumb impression.

When the police explained the contents of the complaint, Kembi expressed shock and denied that her daughter-in- law, Rani, was raped by the STF personnel.

During the RDO enquiry, both Kembi and Rani said no such incident occurred. Hence, Mrs V. Santha, RDO, concluded that the complaint against the STF was totally false.

The Collector, Mr Balachandran, after receiving the report from the RDO last night, forwarded it to the Government.

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Section  : Southern States
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