6 convicted in orphanage girls’ sex assault case

The sessions court on Wednesday convicted six accused, including two women, for physically and sexually assaulting minors in an orphanage in Panvel. The court will decide upon the quantum on Thursday. Of the ten accused initially named, the court convicted six persons; the director of the orphanage Ramachandra Karanjule, superintendent Sonali Badade, Deepak Mayekar, Nanabhau Karanjule, Prakash Khadke and caretaker Parvati Mavale. Khadke worked as a teacher with the orphanage. The wife Surekha and daughter Kalyani of the Ramachandra Karanjule were acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The accused were charged under various provisions of Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act for mainly rape, gangrape, outraging a woman’s modesty and molestation. Ramachandra Karanjule is the only one to be charged with murder of one of the victims. She was allegedly suffering from tuberculosis when she was gangraped. The matter came to light when a newspaper reported in October 2010 that atrocities were committed on the minors. The director of Kalyani Mahila and Balak Seva Sansthan situated in New Panvel had raped five mentally-challenged girls. They had physically abused and molested 15 others in the orphanage. All the girls were between 14 and 18 years old. Four of the five girls raped are deaf and mute. The Bombay high court had taken a suo-moto of a public interest litigation based on the article and had directed an investigation in the matter. During an interaction with a sub-divisional committee formed by the court, the girls at the orphanage revealed that they were gangraped on several occasions. Of the three girls who testified in the court, one was mentally challenged, while two were deaf and dumb who identified the main accused by signs. Arguing for the quantum, special public prosecutor Rohini Salian argued that Ramchandra Karanjule had committed a henious crime and that he should be given death penalty.