Vachathi: India court upholds convictions in 30-year-old rapes
The high court in India's Tamil Nadu state has upheld the convictions of hundreds of government officials for atrocities against tribals, including rapes of 18 women, three decades ago.The convicts include policemen and officials from the forest and revenue departments.They had attacked the tribals in June 1992, accusing them of aiding the dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The crime has come to be known as the Vachathi case after the name of the village where it took place.All the 269 accused denied the allegations against them, but in 2011, a trial court convicted them, pronouncing them guilty under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. Seventeen of the men were also found guilty of rape.The crime has come to be known as the Vachathi case after the name of the village where it took place. As 54 of the accused died during the trial, the remaining 215 men were sentenced to prison terms between one and 10 years. The convicts appealed in Madras High Court in the southern