Two Chhattisgarh girls allegedly gangraped by police sent to correctional home
The Bombay High Court, which will hear the case again on Monday, rejected a petition requesting that the brother of one of the girls be granted their custody.
The Bombay High Court on Sunday directed the Nagpur police to accommodate two Chhattisgarh tribal girls, who were allegedly raped by police officers, in a correctional home until their case was presented before a bench on Monday, reported The Indian Express. The court rejected a petition requesting that the brother of one of the girls be granted their custody.
A team of Maharashtra’s anti-Maoist unit C-60 commandos in Gadchiroli district had detained the two after an encounter with Maoists, reported The Hindu. Citing security reasons, the police had asked the girls to stay with them for the night. They were released the next morning. However, Gadchiroli tribal activist Sainu Gota, his wife Sheela Gota and advocate Nihal Singh Rathod have alleged that the police gangraped the girls that night, The Hindu reported.
The police alleged that one of the girls had lodged an FIR against the activist couple for “forcing them to claim” they were gangraped by the commandos, reported The Indian Express. The Gadchiroli superintendent of police said that medical examination had ruled out rape.
The Bombay High Court arranged a special hearing on Sunday after Rathod moved an urgent habeas corpus application urging the bench to grant the brother their custody. However, the bench directed the girls to be sent to correction home in Nagpur until Monday.