Nagpur: Top bosses of State Prison Department were left red-faced as police on Thursday booked nine persons, including six jailors of Nagpur Central Prison, for allegedly raping and sodomising an undertrial kinnar (transgender).
The shocking crime in jail came to light over a year after the ordeal, only after the intervention of the High Court.
An accused in a murder case, the 39-year-old transgender, had filed a writ petition before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court stating that the jail officers, guards and two other undertrials sodomised and raped her in the jail where she was lodged since June 2019. She had stated that her grievances were never heard by the jail authorities even after lodging complaints with them.
She had also stated that she had requested the jail authorities to shift her to the women’s barrack but they did not. The transgender stated that she had written to the Additional District and Sessions Judge in December 2019 narrating her ordeal and seeking permission to be shifted to the women’s barrack. As there was a delay on her letter, she moved the High Court.
On March 23, Justices Z A Haq and Amit Borkar had directed the Jail Superintendent to produce her at Dhantoli Police Station to lodge the first information report within a week. Subsequently, she was taken to Dhantoli Police Station to lodge an FIR.
On the basis of her complaint, Dhantoli Police registered an offence against Senior Jailor Ananda Kande, Jailors Sachin Tichkule, Bhosle, Karpande, Wankhede and Naik, jail guard and two undertrials Mukesh Ramaji Yadav and Darshan Singh Kapoor under Sections 377, 354, 354(b), 506(b), 509, 109, 190 and 34 of the IPC. The jail authorities are conducting an internal inquiry into the matter.
Jail Superintendent Anup Kumar Kumre said a parallel inquiry has been initiated by jail authorities, and the report would be soon tabled before the Deputy Inspector General of Prison, eastern region, for further action.