Some of my friends have enormous faith in law, justice and judiciary. I don't know whether the woman is alive. But this should reinforce their faith.
Raped by cop, woman gets Rs 8 lakh compensation after 25 years
PTI 19 November 2009, 04:17pm IST
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CHENNAI: In her battle for justice that dragged on for 25 years, a woman raped by a police inspector has finally got relief from the Madras High
Court which has directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs eight lakh as compensation to her.
The court described the victim as a role model for women for carrying on her fight.
"The petitioner (the victim) is in fact, a role model for the women folk. Though she is a villager without any resources at her command, she was not prepared to accept defeat. She was determined to enforce the rule of law," the court said.
Justice K K Sasidharan enhanced the relief to Rs eight lakh against the Rs one lakh paid by the state government as mandatory compensation.
The woman was 28-years-old when she was raped by inspector Mangala Dhanaraj on June 7, 1984 during a visit by her and her husband to Nangunery police station in Tirunelveli district to file a complaint that her house was forcibly occupied by her sister-in-law.
According to police, Dhanaraj had asked her husband to go and made her stay back for inquiry when he raped her before allowing her to leave the next morning. The victim had lodged a complaint with police the same day.
During her fight for justice, the inspector, who was promoted as DSP, filed several petitions before different courts but they were dismissed.
To meet the legal costs, the woman had to sell her ornaments and property. In September 1996, the trial court in Tenkasi found Dhanaraj guilty and sentenced him to 11 years in jail.
