Stella Mary, a 45-year-old woman who had been arrested by the police from Martalli village in Chamarajanagar district near here for her alleged association with notorious forest bandit Veerappan in the past, has been acquitted by the Juvenile Justice Board of the district.
Ms. Mary, who had been arrested by the police in February 2020, was booked for her alleged role in the Ramapura police station attack of 1992 and Palar blasts of 1993.
Though she was released on bail two months later in April 2020 when child rights activists raised questions over the legality of sending her to judicial custody as she was a minor when the offence was reported, the Chamarajanagar District and Sessions court, which was hearing the matter initially, subsequently transferred the case to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).
Ms. Mary’s advocate P.P. Baburaj, who is also a child rights activist, had argued before the court that Ms. Mary was barely 14 to 15 years old in 1992 and 1993 when the Ramapura police station attack and Palar blasts had taken place. After radiological tests were conducted, the district surgeon had given a report to the court stating that she was between 16 and 18 years at the time of the reported offences, Mr. Baburaj said.
He also contended that her name in the school records was Elizabeth Rani and she was allegedly kidnapped by Veerappan’s gang when she was a minor. Subsequently, she was married to a gang member Sunda Veliyar, who was later killed in a police encounter.
Later, Ms. Mary married Veluswamy, a farmer, and settled in Martalli village of Chamarajanagar district. She is not only the mother to two daughters – one from her earlier marriage and one from Veluswamy – but also a grandmother to one grandchild.
Ms. Mary’s arrest in February 2020, which is about 27 to 28 years after the Ramapura police station attack and Palar blasts, came about by chance when the Kollegal police were investigating a minor outbreak of fire in a sugarcane field in Jageri village, where her husband had taken a farm on contract. The police were informed that a minor fire had broken out when Ms. Mary had opened fire in the air to drive away a herd of elephants that had entered their sugarcane fields.
While inquiring about her ability to handle firearms, the police learnt about Ms. Mary’s past association with Veerappan’s gang members and took her into custody.
As per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act of 1987, a girl under the age of 18 years cannot be sent to judicial custody. “Even though she was 41 years when she was arrested, what is relevant was the age at the time the offence was allegedly committed. She was a juvenile”, Mr. Baburaj said.
After the Chamarajanagar District and Sessions Court accepted his application and transferred the case to Juvenile Justice Members(JJB), the trial went on for about a year during which the then chief of Special Task Force (STF) constituted to nab Veerappan, Mr. Shankar Bidari also appeared for the hearing through video conference, said Mr. Baburaj.
About a fortnight back, the JJB acquitted Ms. Stella Mary of all the charges under Arms Act, Explosives Act, and TADA besides various provisions of IPC booked by M.M. Hills and Ramapura police stations, said Mr. Baburaj. “She has been proven innocent. No evidence leading to her involvement in any offences was found,” he added.
