The trial in the Panvel shelter home rape case is at the completion stage with the final witness and investigating officer DCP Rashmi Karandikar deposing against the accused.
The prosecution has, till now, examined 22 witnesses of whom five were the victims — the mentally challenged girls who were allegedly sexually abused and raped by several men. Three of the five victims detailed their ordeal before the court.
Advocate Rohini Salian, who was appointed by the state government as a special public prosecutor in the case said, “It was a difficult case as the victims who deposed were mentally-challenged. Three out of the five girls described the facts before the court. We conducted the case according to the Supreme Court’s guidelines.”
A court official, on condition of anonymity, maintained that the case proceedings were conducted on camera. According to law, the victim always has to depose in the presence of the accused. In this case, considering the mental state of the victims, the accused was asked to sit behind a cupboard, so as to not affect the victims during their deposition.
The rape of the five girls at Kalyani Mahila and Bal Seva Sanstha in Panvel, came to light following a visit by members of the child welfare committee in February 2011.
An FIR was registered with the Kalamboli police and the police have arrested 10 people, including the founder and the director of the Panvel orphanage.
After the incident was reported, the state government took steps to move over 1,000 girls in 22 different state-funded orphanages for the mentally challenged.