All accused guilty in Vachathi attack case

DHARMAPURI: In a landmark judgment, Dharmapuri Principal District and Sessions Judge S Kumaraguru on Thursday convicted all the 215 surviving accused persons, who were involved in the sensational Vachathi mass rape and  savage attack case in 1992. The judge imposed sentences ranging from 1 to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on different groups of accused persons.Among the 215 persons who were convicted, 17 were convicted on charges of rape of (IPC Section 376) ‘adivasi’ women. The seventeen men convicted for rape were: Arunachalam, Arumugam, Rajagopal, Periyanayagam, Rajamanickam, Govindan, Rathinavelu, Pachiyappan, Vediyappan, Chidambaram, Perumal, Palani, M Perumal, Azhagiri, Madhaiyan, Kaliyappan and Janakiraman. They were sentenced to undergo seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of `2,000.The judge also ordered as per section 357 (1)(b) compensation of `15,000 each to the 18 rape victims from the fine amount after the appeal period ends.Among the 17 persons convicted of rape, 12 were also convicted for 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for committing offences under Sections 3(2)(V) of the SC/ST Act. Those convicted under the SC/ST Act were: Arunachalam, Arumugam, Rajagopal, Govindan, Rajamanickam, Rathinavelu, Vediyappan, Palani, M Perumal, Azhagiri, Kaliyappan and Janakiraman.As many as 18 women of the village were raped during the raid conducted by forest officials who were accompanied by over 100 police personnel and six revenue department staff, in the aftermath of an alleged attack on some forest guards who had gone to seize hidden sandalwood from Vachathi in Harur taluk on June 20, 1992.The judge said the substantive sentence of imprisonment would run concurrently. He also asked the police to take the 17 persons into custody. They were immediately taken to Salem central jail by the police.The remaining accused persons were convicted for various other charges and were awarded imprisonment ranging from one to three years.As many as 54 accused died in the intervening period. While a section of the accused pleaded guilty and prayed the court to award lesser punishment others said they were not guilty of any offence.