Sophia College Girl accused of ragging Indu Anto acquitted after 12 years
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Allwyn
Oct 5, 2010, 10:59:23 AM10/5/10
to A communicating Indian Church
This is a sad case that should be of interest to all those running our
institutions.
Justice seems to have been done but actually has not because the case
took 12 years and several innocent people have suffered in silence,
including the two room-mates of the girl in the hostel. The guilt-
ridden father of the girl who committed suicide dragged the college to
every court in the land, including the Supreme Court, because he had
the money to do so and could not accept the fact that he himself was
responsible for her death.
He made all kinds of wild allegations -- against the nuns, against the
then police commissioner Ronnie Mendonca accusing him to influencing
the local police in favour of the college, against her hostel room-
mates -- everyone but himself. Based on his allegations one newspaper
named two nuns from the college as "lesbians" who had harassed the
girl into committing suicide, The nuns were helpless.
Saddest of all was the plight of the unfortunate girl's hapless room-
mates. Their names were splashed over the media as being responsible
for her death.
Today's judgment is very strong against the father. It has nailed him.
But he is not the type to give up. He will probably find an expensive
lawyer and go in appeal.
The delayed judgment is an eloquest testimony to the failure of our
judicial system to deliver justice -- 12 years here, 60 years in the
Babri masjid and so many other cases we will never hear of.
Girl accused of ragging Indu Anto acquitted
Juvenile court holds that the Sophia college student who committed
suicide was under pressure because of her parents’ expectations
Anand Holla
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=2010100520101005023151689c9ea607&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Twelve years after Sophia College student Indu Anto’s suicide over
alleged ragging evoked lengthy debates in the city, the Dongri
juvenile court recently acquitted one of the two girls - then a minor
- accused of ragging her.
The court held that Indu and her father C L Anto had never complained
about being ragged to the police or the college authorities. The judge
also said that she was under pressure because of her parents’
expectation.
The 16-year-old, who joined FYJC in 1998, jumped from the hostel’s
third floor early on the morning of August 4.
The juvenile court’s Principal Magistrate S C Khalipe noted, “It is
clear that Indu or her father never made oral or written complaints
about the ragging.
Compelling juniors to sing songs, poems and wear funny dresses,
different bows or do catwalks are funny things. They have no reference
of any physical or sexual assault.”
The FIR had stated that a senior student assaulted her with a rod and
sexually abused her, assisted by the juvenile. It also stated that on
July 18, Indu complained to her father that senior girls had forced
her to walk naked on a table.
The judge said that in the letter Indu’s father wrote to the hostel’s
warden around July 20, he didn’t mention the ragging. “A police
complaint could have been filed after the incident but wasn’t. Anto
sent his daughter back to the hostel even though he was asked to take
her home.”
Drawing from notes she made in her personal diary, the judge said,
“Indu was unable to make close friends and was frustrated that she
could not secure better marks. Anto (father) had selected Math as her
special subject and it was difficult for her. She was unhappy and
under pressure to take Maths.”
Psychologist Dr S R Parkar said Indu was suffering from ‘persecutory
ideas and hallucinatory behaviour’, and that she had tried committing
suicide before as well.
Psychiatrist Dr Yusuf Matcheswala said, “Indu’s diary shows signs of
feelings of guilt as she could not live up to the expectations of her
parents.” He added that she was depressed, suicidal, lacked self-
esteem and craved for affection from her father.
Two members of the Juvenile Justice Board were also of the opinion
that she was raised in an authoritarian manner. Defence lawyer Manjula
Rao said, “The members stated that Indu seemed to be ‘a sensitive girl
burdened with extremely high expectations’, ‘had persistent feelings
of inadequacy to face competitive circumstances,’ and harboured
suicidal thoughts.” One of the entries in the diary says that the day
she discovered she had “incurable blood cancer...It will be the
happiest day of my life.”
The court discarded the diary as a ‘very weak piece of evidence’
because it made no reference to ragging or being sexually abused.
The judge observed, “In 1996, even when she was residing with her
parents, she was unhappy with her life and those circumstances would
have led her to end her life.”
Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian, who examined 35 witnesses,
expressed her displeasure that Indu’s father - the key witness -
refused to appear before the court. ###
institutions.
Justice seems to have been done but actually has not because the case
took 12 years and several innocent people have suffered in silence,
including the two room-mates of the girl in the hostel. The guilt-
ridden father of the girl who committed suicide dragged the college to
every court in the land, including the Supreme Court, because he had
the money to do so and could not accept the fact that he himself was
responsible for her death.
He made all kinds of wild allegations -- against the nuns, against the
then police commissioner Ronnie Mendonca accusing him to influencing
the local police in favour of the college, against her hostel room-
mates -- everyone but himself. Based on his allegations one newspaper
named two nuns from the college as "lesbians" who had harassed the
girl into committing suicide, The nuns were helpless.
Saddest of all was the plight of the unfortunate girl's hapless room-
mates. Their names were splashed over the media as being responsible
for her death.
Today's judgment is very strong against the father. It has nailed him.
But he is not the type to give up. He will probably find an expensive
lawyer and go in appeal.
The delayed judgment is an eloquest testimony to the failure of our
judicial system to deliver justice -- 12 years here, 60 years in the
Babri masjid and so many other cases we will never hear of.
Girl accused of ragging Indu Anto acquitted
Juvenile court holds that the Sophia college student who committed
suicide was under pressure because of her parents’ expectations
Anand Holla
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=2010100520101005023151689c9ea607&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Twelve years after Sophia College student Indu Anto’s suicide over
alleged ragging evoked lengthy debates in the city, the Dongri
juvenile court recently acquitted one of the two girls - then a minor
- accused of ragging her.
The court held that Indu and her father C L Anto had never complained
about being ragged to the police or the college authorities. The judge
also said that she was under pressure because of her parents’
expectation.
The 16-year-old, who joined FYJC in 1998, jumped from the hostel’s
third floor early on the morning of August 4.
The juvenile court’s Principal Magistrate S C Khalipe noted, “It is
clear that Indu or her father never made oral or written complaints
about the ragging.
Compelling juniors to sing songs, poems and wear funny dresses,
different bows or do catwalks are funny things. They have no reference
of any physical or sexual assault.”
The FIR had stated that a senior student assaulted her with a rod and
sexually abused her, assisted by the juvenile. It also stated that on
July 18, Indu complained to her father that senior girls had forced
her to walk naked on a table.
The judge said that in the letter Indu’s father wrote to the hostel’s
warden around July 20, he didn’t mention the ragging. “A police
complaint could have been filed after the incident but wasn’t. Anto
sent his daughter back to the hostel even though he was asked to take
her home.”
Drawing from notes she made in her personal diary, the judge said,
“Indu was unable to make close friends and was frustrated that she
could not secure better marks. Anto (father) had selected Math as her
special subject and it was difficult for her. She was unhappy and
under pressure to take Maths.”
Psychologist Dr S R Parkar said Indu was suffering from ‘persecutory
ideas and hallucinatory behaviour’, and that she had tried committing
suicide before as well.
Psychiatrist Dr Yusuf Matcheswala said, “Indu’s diary shows signs of
feelings of guilt as she could not live up to the expectations of her
parents.” He added that she was depressed, suicidal, lacked self-
esteem and craved for affection from her father.
Two members of the Juvenile Justice Board were also of the opinion
that she was raised in an authoritarian manner. Defence lawyer Manjula
Rao said, “The members stated that Indu seemed to be ‘a sensitive girl
burdened with extremely high expectations’, ‘had persistent feelings
of inadequacy to face competitive circumstances,’ and harboured
suicidal thoughts.” One of the entries in the diary says that the day
she discovered she had “incurable blood cancer...It will be the
happiest day of my life.”
The court discarded the diary as a ‘very weak piece of evidence’
because it made no reference to ragging or being sexually abused.
The judge observed, “In 1996, even when she was residing with her
parents, she was unhappy with her life and those circumstances would
have led her to end her life.”
Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian, who examined 35 witnesses,
expressed her displeasure that Indu’s father - the key witness -
refused to appear before the court. ###
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