More than 200 Indian police and government officials were found guilty on Thursday of offences including torture and rape during a raid on a low-caste village 19 years ago. A special court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu convicted all 215 police and forest department staff accused over the attacks in the village of Vachathi, which was raided in a supposed attempt to track down a sandalwood smuggler.
Activists say the long-delayed case has thrown light on the abuse and discrimination still suffered in India by Dalits, formerly known as "untouchables", and other low-caste groups. Of those convicted, 17 were found guilty of rape during the two-day orgy of violence in June 1992 that deeply damaged inter-caste relations in the region. More than 80 of the convicted men were police. About 100 villagers were attacked, with 18 women raped. "They not only beat up women, men and children, but also abused young
girls," Angammal, an elderly women who only uses one name, told reporters outside the court after the verdicts were announced. "Fearing rape and sexual assault, many of us escaped into the forest and lived in hiding, surviving on natural food." The court handed down sentences ranging from nine months to 10 years to the men, who were first charged in 1996. Of those originally accused, 54 have died in the years since the attacks. Dalit representatives said the authorities' reluctance to prosecute the police and lack of co-operation were to blame for the legal delay.