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 city of Chennai.A lawyer for the survivors told the BBC that the convicts have all been out on bail. "Barring the 17 men who were convicted of rape, most others did not spend any time in prison," she said.

On Friday, Justice P Velmurugan ordered the state to give compensation of 1m rupees ($12,034; £9,844) to each victim and suitable employment, legal website LiveLaw reported.The judgement also called for stringent action against the then senior-most district official, forest official and superintendent of police, it added.In March, Justice Velmurugan had visited Vachathi, located in the foothills of picturesque Sitheri hills in Dharmapuri district.

The tribals' fight for justice has been long and arduous, with roadblocks delaying it at each step.Officials initially denied any wrongdoing. The police refused to lodge any complaints and courts turned them away saying police and government officials couldn't have raped them.It was handed over to India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following campaigns by civil society activists and members of the Communist Party of India (Marxists).