Gauhati high court stays order to send teenage rape survivor to live with accused’s kin

A sessions court in Arunachal Pradesh ordered a child care home to send the teenage rape survivor to live with the accused’s sister-in-law because she was listed as her local guardian.

Guwahati: The Gauhati high court has put on hold a controversial order by a sessions court in Arunachal Pradesh that ordered a child care home to hand over custody of a minor rape survivor to a relative of the rape accused.

The teenage girl from Nepal, who was allegedly raped by her employer for years, escaped from the house in March this year

On Wednesday, Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia stepped in and after a virtual hearing issued orders to stay the June 4 direction of the sessions court in Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district to place the rape survivor with the accused’s sister-in-law who was listed as her ‘local guardian’.

Apart from Assam, the Gauhati high court also has jurisdiction over Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The case relates to a girl from Nepal brought to Arunachal Pradesh many years ago. She was working as a domestic help at the residence of an Arunachal Pradesh government official for a monthly salary of ₹1,500. It turned out that he also raped her.

She escaped in March this year and shared her ordeal with a family who sheltered her, who in turn, informed the district child welfare committee. The committee sent the rape survivor to a child care home, Nani Maria Children Home (NMCH).

The June 4 order of the sessions court was widely criticised in the state by rights child activists. “The child is already traumatized by her ordeal and handing her over to a relative of the accused, who is out on bail, could hurt her further,” Desai Linggi, chairperson of the NMCH that declined to comply with the controversial court order, said earlier.

The childcare home instead asked the court to appoint another person who isn’t related to the accused.

In its order, the high court directed that the minor should continue to stay at the childcare home till the next hearing in the case. It also restrained the accused, his relatives and the father of the victim from visiting the girl at the child care home.

The court also asked the director of health services in Arunachal Pradesh to ascertain the correct age of the child through a bone ossification test. A medical examination of the child done earlier had stated that she was between 12-15 years of age and had been raped.