Peon sentenced to life for raping 2 mute-deaf girls

Mumbai: A special POCSO court on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment Rajesh Tare, a peon of a state-run school in Mankhurd, for raping two mute and deaf girls in the school.

Special public prosecutor Vaibhav Bagade said that the court had sentenced the convict to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.

Special judge Surekha Patil in her order said that of the total fine amount, Rs 20,000 be paid each to both the victims as compensation. However, the judge also noted that since the compensation amount awarded to the victims was not adequate for their rehabilitation, the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) was directed to pay adequate compensation to each victim.

On March 21, 2014, counselors from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) who help inmates of various shelters as part of their “Chunauti” project, visited the state-run home for the mentally deficient in Mankhurd. They met the children there who had been rescued from the Kavdas orphanage, and found a Rs 50 note in the pocket of one of the girls. The girl did not tell the counselors who had given her the money. After hours of coaxing, the girl confided in them that she had been sexually assaulted in the school.

The counselors wanted to ensure that she was not talking about her experience at the Kavdas orphanage but to their shock, she confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted at the Mankhurd school. Meanwhile, another girl came forward saying that she, too, had been sexually assaulted at the school. Both  girls identified Tare as the person who had committed the crime. Following this, a case was registered against Tare and after conducting trial, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment on Monday.

The victims had been rescued from the Kavdas orphanage and kept in this school where Tare targeted them. In the Kavdas orphanage, too, children were sexually assaulted and the owner of the orphanage is already serving his sentence.