Vachathi case
| Vachathi case | |
|---|---|
| Location | 11°58′2″N 78°28′16″E / 11.96722°N 78.47111°E Vachathi, Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu |
| Date | 20 June 1992 |
Attack type | Assault, Mass rape, Property damage, Collective punishment, Killing of livestock, Caste/tribal-targeted violence |
| Victims | Assaulted around 100 villagers, and raped 18 women |
| Perpetrators | Tamil Nadu Police Tamil Nadu Forest Department Department of Revenue (Tamil Nadu) |
| Accused | 269 |
| Verdict | 215 officials were sentenced to prison |
| Convicted | 215 |
The Vachathi case involved a mass crime that occurred on 20 June 1992 in the village of Vachathi, in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. A team of 155 forest personnel, 108 policemen and six revenue officials entered the Tribal-dominated Vachathi village, searching for smuggled sandalwood and to gather information about Veerappan. Under the pretext of conducting a search, the team ransacked the villagers' property, destroyed their houses, killed their cattle, assaulted around 100 villagers, and raped 18 women.
After a court order, the CBI began probing the case, which was also under the scope of the National Human Rights Commission. On 29 September 2011, a special court in India convicted all 269 accused officials under the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities act and 17 of those for rape. Fifty-four of the original accused had died by the time of the convictions; the remaining 215 were sentenced to jail.