Transgender alleges rape in jail, moves HC

Nagpur: Justices ZA Haq and Amit Borkar of the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the superintendent of Nagpur central prison to produce a 39-year-old transgender before Dhantoli police station to lodge first information report (FIR) within one week.
The transgender had filed a writ petition stating she was raped and sodomized by prisoners and officials of Nagpur central jail where she is lodged since 2019 in a murder case.
On Wednesday, a group of transgenders thronged the Dhantoli police station seeking justice for their community member.
In the petition, the transgender had named a constable and a jail constable (guard) who allegedly raped or sodomized her in the barrack. She also accused two sub-inspectors and another fellow inmate of molesting her.
Despite her repeated complaints, the transgender mentioned in the petition, that her grievances were never heard by the jail authorities. There was no justice even after alerting the lower judiciary, the transgender said.
The transgender stated that she had repeatedly requested the jail authorities to shift her to the women’s barrack but no one had heeded her grievances.
In the petition, filed by advocate RS Nayak, the transgender stated that she had wrote to the district and additional sessions judge in December 2019 narrating the sexual assault on her and sought permission to be shifted to the women’s wing of the jail.
The letter was handed over to the chief judicial magistrate RM Satav who had put up the same before the district and additional sessions judge number 7 on January 14 last year.
The sessions judge, taking cognizance of the letter, had called for the ‘say’ of the jailor and the additional public prosecutor on October 23 last year.
Seeing no action, the transgender resorted to hunger strike for several days before the jail authorities decided to take her complaint on February 23 this year.
But since no action was taken further, the transgender later narrated her plight to advocate Kailash Waghmare. She later spoke about her exploitation to her mother. Subsequently, the writ was filed before the high court.
According to jail SP Anup Kumre, the transgender was kept separate and not in the regular male barrack. “We are conducting an internal inquiry,” he said.