Case in Brief:                         

Lova Kumari and Varaprasad were in love for 3 years and developed physical intimacy.  A boy child was born and he refused to marry her.  She did hunger strike infront of the accuser’s house.

Present situation:

FIR not registered

Recommendations:

•      FIR should be registered, accused should marry the victim.  
•      Authorities should implement the Domestic Violence Act.

Pali is located 303 km from Jaipur and 3km from the District Headquarter. Lali Devi (45) w/o Bhanwar Lal is r/o Pali. Lali’s husband Bhanwar lal had been suffering from cancer for last 2 years. She used to go to Jodhpur for his treatment.

One day Lali’s neighbor namely Meesia called Lali at her home. When Lali went, she found Meesia’s husband Bhanwar Lal was already present in the room. As Lali entered into the room, Bhanwar Lal closed the door and striped Lali naked and forcibly raped her. Meesia stood out to guard her husband. Lali tried her best to rescue herself from Bhanwar but all went in vain. After that, Bhanwar Lal left her and threatened her not to tell anyone about the incident or else he would kill her. Lali returned home and did not say anything to her husband.

But the incident did not end here, accused started blackmailing Lali and asked for money otherwise they will open the secret and she will loose dignity in her family and will face social boycott from the community. Lali became helpless and started giving 2000 to 4000 Rs. Per month to them to keep their mouth shut.  Accused used to come to Lali’s home and take money from her. This had gone for a year and half. When she took her husband to Jodhpur for treatment, the accused followed her and even did not allow her to go for the job. When she protested, he brawled with her husband and daily compelled her for intercourse. He also took objectionable photographs of Lali, blackmailed her and took her house papers, gold earrings, bank pass books. But one day Lali decided to speak out this violence.

On March 7, 2006, she went to the police station and lodged complaint against the accused. A case was registered on 7 March, 2006, No. 22/06, u/s 376, 120b IPC. The Local Police started investigation and without considering the right facts of the incident.

She was continuously threatened by the accused to compromise in the case. Accused threatened Lali and her son to show her objectionable pictures in society and terrorized that they will not let her. She reported to the police about it but the police did nothing in this regard. Accused was not arrested even after long time. Finally, Lali Devi was compelled by the circumstances to compromise in the case. 

Village Nagla Bairsi is located 30 Kilometers from the district head quarter and Naina Bairwa (13) is resident of the village, who belongs to Scheduled Caste community. On December 23, 2005 around 1.30 P.M. she went to a village jungle to graze cattle. As she reached her uncle’s farm, Babu Lal who was hiding behind the fence caught and dragged her to the mustard farm and stripped off her clothes and brutally raped her.

After this inhumane act, the accused ran away after threatening innocent Naina not to tell anyone about the incident otherwise she would be killed. Naina was badly injured, she started crying. Meanwhile Ghan Shyam & Lada Raigar who were passing by, saw Naina in an awful situation. They took Naina with them and dropped at her home. She told her mother about the whole incident. As her father was out of station, they went to lodge the F.I.R after three days. After registering FIR, the police started investigating and arrested the accused. Naina was sent for medical examination and soon challan was submitted against the accused.

This incident took place on December 23, 2005 but Naina’s parents lodged the FIR after three days from the date of incident. Initially the Local police did not register their FIR but when they went again to lodge FIR, the local police registered it but didn’t provide them with its copy. The police arrested the accused after 7 days. 

On May15^th, 2007, the accused was punished with the imprisonment of 7 years and 2 months under section 376 & 342 but the benefit of doubt was given to the accused and he was not punished under section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (PoA) Act 1989.

As the accused belongs to Gurjar community and are in majority in the village, they all got united and pressurized Naina’s family. They offered some money. When Naina’s family denied taking money they started threatening them to kill otherwise.

According to Birudu Nageshwara Rao, who is father of the deceased, his daughter Ramya was Studying S.S.C in St. Arnold High School, Medarametla Village, Prakasam District.  The school is being run by Roman Catholic Missionaries and has hostel facility. The sisters run the girls hostel and the fathers run the boys hostel. Both boys and girls hostels are located in the same premises. The priest who is the Principal and Correspondent of the school has access to the girl’s hostel. Usually the priest performs the daily mass and everyone in the hostel attends the prayers.

Birudu Ramya, aged 14 years, d/o Birudu Nageshwara Rao, of Madiga Caste, a Scheduled Caste joined in St. Arnold Hostel in the year 2004 when she was in the 9^th standard.  She continued in the same school during her 10^th standard also.  Ramya often informed her mother that the Principal, Fr. Fernandez misbehaved with her but her mother did not take the matter seriously as she strongly believed that the Priests are highly pious people. Ramya’s father, Nageshwara Rao is working as a driver in the fire station in Yerragondapalem in Prakasham District.  On 8th December 2005, Ramya tried to talk to her father over phone, but he was not there in the office. When he returned, he was informed that his daughter has called him and tried to contact her over the phone.  He tried calling the institution several times but no one responded. Next day, i.e., on 9th December 2005, Nageshwara Rao went to St. Arnold School and was shocked to see his daughter lying dead. Dead body of Ramya was lying on an iron cot. Nageshwara Rao was told by the institution that Ramya hanged herself to death.  The management of the institution said that Ramya had stolen Rs.200/- and hence committed she suicide.  But other girl students in the institution said that Fr. Fernandez used to harass Ramya and other girl students sexually and this is the reason for her death.    

Sister Maria Theresa is the warden of the girl’s hostel.  Fr. Fernandez has access to the girl’s hostel.  Maria has knowledge of everything that happens in the girl’s hostel.  The charge is that Ramya has stolen Rs.200/- is purely fictitious.  The hostel and school management did not inform Ramya’s parents about the theft.  They would have definitely informed had it been true.  Fr. Fernandez has again and again visited her in the hostel in midnight and harassed her about Rs.200/-. Though the police have come, they did not conduct proper investigation and just visited the place of incident and went away taking the statements of the father and sister.  The height of the rod in the bathroom in which Ramya is said to have hanged was not measured.  The height of the rod is not enough for a person to commit suicide and more over there is no need for Ramya to commit suicide. Fr. Fernandez previously worked in St. Anns School in BHEL and was transferred for his misbehavior. The legal provisions under which the case was registered have not been altered.  The Accused have not been arrested. The Charge sheet not been filed. Post mortem report, which was kept as III opinion of the Forensic Lab, is yet to be given.

B. Ramya D/o B. Nageshwara Rao was Studying S.S.C in St. Arnold High School in Maderametla, Prakasam District. The school belongs to Roman Catholic and it is residential school. The sisters of the missionaries run the girls hostel and the fathers run the boys hostel. Both boys and girls hostels are located in the same premises. Fr. Fernandez, the principal and Correspondent of the school always has accesses to the girls’ hostel. Usually the father performs the daily mass and every child in the hostels irrespective of their religion and the caste attend the prayers. In this way the girls interact with the father.

B Ramya’s father is a driver in the fire station and her mother is house wife. She was admitted in the school for 9^th class. In the year 2005 she was studying 10^th class in the same Institution. On the fateful day Ramya called to her father at Yerragondapalam in Prakasam District, but he didn’t lift the phone. Later onwards he made calls several times to his daughter, but she has not lifted. On 09^th December 2006, he went to the institution in the morning to his utter grief and sorrow he found the dead body of his daughter laid down on an iron cot. He enquired about the death and he was told that she committed suicide by hanging herself. As per the circumstances and also the statements given by the other students it seems the entire story of the suicide is fictitious fabricated concocted to save  the culprit priest called Fernandez who is the principal of that institution.

It was informed by the victim girl to her mother that the said principal, Fr. Fernandez, behaved in an abusive way with the victim quite often.  However the mother did not take it seriously because the RCM (Roman Catholic Mission) Priests are pious people in her view. Other students as much supported the version of the harassment.

Fr. Fernandez has access to the girls hostel as the as the principal of the institution. In fact Sister Maria Teresa is the warden of the hostel. Whatever the offence committed must be done with the aid of Sister Maria Teresa.  The management says that she has stolen Rs.200 (Two hundred rupees) and therefore she committed suicide.  This version of the management is highly unbelievable this is created only for the purpose to cover up the offence. The management did not even inform this to the parents nor the students say about this either.  If any thing went wrong with the girl she must have sent back to the home.  But the management adopted neither of the courses.  This sheds ample scope light to the possibility of homicide.