Vakapalle women’s fighting spirit praised

Visakhapatnam: True that the tribal women of Vakapalle are awaiting justice, but it’s time to remember the brave act of these rape victims, who lodged the complaint on their own after the sexual abuse by greyhound personnel and still keeping their hopes high for attaining justice, said High Court advocate and Human Rights activist Vasudha Nagaraj.

Ten years have gone by since the 11 tribal women of Vakapalle village under Paderu mandal in the district were raped in the name of combing operations for Left wing extremists. In this context, Human Rights Forum (HRF) organised a session to discuss about the issue as part of the forum’s Sixth District Mahasabha in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Addressing the gathering, Vasudha Nagaraj, counsel appearing for petitioners, recalled the various stages the case had went through in these 10 years. This particular case was initially taken up by prominent human rights advocate K Balagopal before his demise in 2009. According to her, it became possible to continue the unrelenting legal battle for justice because of stunning features in this case.

“Firstly, number of sexual abuses occurred even before Vakapalle incident, but victims being upfront made difference. Secondly, the case was registered in sub-collector office on the complaint of these women.

Finally, the Junior First Class Magistrate believed what the tribal women have stated and rejected the investigation report of an officer before taking cognizance of the case despite high political pressure,” she asserted. “The system and official machinery want the memory to fade, but the challenge is to wait and wait for getting justice,” she said adding that this case is yet to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court.