Judge dismisses rape case against father

Worcester (MA) Telegram and Gazette ^ | 8/18/04 | Nugent

[pabianice]

CLINTON, MA- The case against a father accused of raping his 2-year-old daughter has been dismissed because the mother, charged with slashing the baby's wrist, refused to testify against her husband.

The charges against Ashok K. Yadlapalli, 35, of Oxford Court were dismissed June 29 by Judge Martha A. Brennan in Clinton District Court.

A motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning the plaintiff can bring the same charges forward again, was made by the prosecutor, Anthony J. Marotta, a Worcester County assistant district attorney.

In the motion, Mr. Marotta said all rape kit results from the child were negative, and there is no other independent evidence. Police said it is unclear if the alleged rape took place on the night Mr. Yadlapalli was arrested.

Also, the motion says the child would not likely be able to testify because of her age and limited verbal abilities.

As for the mother, Srilatha Meka, 30, who called police to report the rape on April 5, the motion says she, "does not wish to speak with this undersigned prosecutor (Mr. Marotta) and she will not cooperate with prosecution."

Mr. Marotta said the case against Mr. Yadlapalli, a software engineer, cannot proceed without Ms. Meka's cooperation and testimony.

Meanwhile, Ms. Meka is awaiting trial for attempted murder and other charges for allegedly slashing the baby's right wrist after reporting the rape. Ms. Meka also cut her own wrists after calling police about her husband.

Both mother and child were taken to a Worcester hospital, where they recovered from the injuries.

In May, Ms. Meka was ordered to undergo two psychological evaluations.

A spokeswoman for District Attorney John J. Conte said Ms. Meka was indicted by a Worcester Superior Court grand jury in June, and is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 25. She is being held at Taunton State Hospital.

She is charged with assault with intent to murder, assault and battery upon a child, causing bodily injury, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a knife).

Police have said cultural factors could have had a role in Ms. Meka's alleged attempted murder-suicide. In the couple's native India, they said, rape and child abuse victims are often treated as outcasts.

Ms. Meka called the dispatch center in the early evening of April 5, and reported a domestic problem, alluding to the alleged sexual assault of her daughter. Mr. Yadlapalli was subsequently arrested and taken to the police lockup.

A few hours later, the dispatcher received a call from a man identifying himself as Ms. Meka's brother, frantically asking police to check on his sister and the child, in case Ms. Meka tried to hurt herself or her daughter because of a perceived social stigma.

When police arrived the second time, they found Ms. Meka and the child bleeding profusely. The child had a deep cut on its wrist.

Ms. Meka had attempted to go back to India a few days before the rape was reported, but had a visa problem at the airport, police said.

[Peach]

And the child was allowed to go back home??? The state has an obligation to that child.

[Texas Eagle]

I'm not sure how you can pin this on Kerry. Weird behavior happens in every state.

[Homo_homini_lupus]

Please tell me the child is safely in foster care...

[Onelifetogive]

The case against a father accused of raping his 2-year-old daughter has been dismissed because the mother, charged with slashing the baby's wrist, refused to testify against her husband.

I know we usually have that whole "innocent until proven guilty" and "rule of law" thing......

....but can't we, just this once, go ahead and execute BOTH parents?

[OneTimeLurker]

Yeah, no kidding. Imagine if W was pinned for all the horrible twisted stuff that comes out of Texas.

[Texas Eagle]

Imagine if W was pinned for all the horrible twisted stuff that comes out of Texas.You mean like dragging people behind cars? Exactly. Nobody would stoop so low as to accuse President Bush of causing that to happen.

[verity]

Tales from the Melting Pot!

[OneTimeLurker]

That's not what I had in mind but interesting point. I was thinking more about the woman who killed all her kids, etc.

[TKDietz]

But what if the crazy mom just made the whole thing up about the dad? It happens. She's obviously a nut job and her story was the only shred of evidence they had that the rape even occurred. The doctors couldn't even find evidence of it. Sounds to me like the prosecutors did the right thing in dismissing the case.

[Rabbit29]

I agree...especially if the rape kit came out negative...just as stated.

[Bonaparte]

"...Ms. Meka had attempted to go back to India..."

It should be SOP to permanently deport any immigrant convicted of a felony, just as soon as he or she has served out the sentence. If the country of origin won't accept them, then they'll just have to become a wanderer.

In cases where the death penalty is imposed, I'd show some leniency and let them be buried over here.

[Bonaparte]

"Tales from the Melting Pot!"

Immigrants these days have an extremely high "melting point." They just don't assimilate into the American way. The muslims bring their slaves, the Hutus bring their machetes and they act just as though they never left home and are not in somebody else's country.

[berkley]

I hope DFS doesn't give the child back to her mother, or we'll be reading about her murder.

[Bonaparte]

The rape definitely occured. The girl's injuries are alluded to in this article from last May. The only reason that the "father" isn't going to prison is that the mother, who is the only witness, won't testify on behalf of the child and any DNA evidence was obliterated.

[Bonaparte]

Probably. We've already been reading about muslim "honor killings" that take place among immigrant muslims living in our country with no respect of any kind for our laws and customs.

[neither-nor]

But what if the crazy mom just made the whole thing up about the dad? It happens. She's obviously a nut job and her story was the only shred of evidence they had that the rape even occurred..

I am not sure what happened,but here's some cultural perspective (not a defence!).This assault, if it happened, was cause for intense shame for the woman and by proxy, the baby. Hysteria is a typical and reaction, and I'm guessing that is what happened. In a substantial portion of society in India such incidents are to be hushed up. Add to that the 'lower' status of women, the emphasis on virginity, and I think I can see this happening. Remember, I'm not condoning it.

That is why I have sympathy for the woman. I'm guessing the couple has been recently married, the woman has spent very little time in the US, and she doesn't get to interact with other people. I think she had very little access to support or counselling when it happened, and right now she is a complete mess.

Finally, if this thing did happen, I would take more than active interest in kicking the husband's posterior.

[gcruse]

And this is better than gay marriage?

[TKDietz]

It doesn't even appear to be standard operating procedure to deport convicted felons who are illegal immigrants. I'm a public defender. I just did a plea for an illegal alien a week or so ago. He was convicted of felony hindering apprehension for lying to the police about the whereabouts of a suspected murderer. He got a suspended sentence and although INS did have a hold on him, they decided he wasn't worth picking him up. Now he's working around the courthouse doing his 30 days of community service. I've had several illegal alien clients and as far as I know none have been deported, although I suppose it's possible some who went to prison might have been deported upon release. I had one a few months back convicted of sexual abuse type case involving a child. He was sitting in the jail and could easily have been deported, but he was allowed to walk out on probation. I'm not sure what ticks me off worse, that they nail low level drug offenders to the wall while they let child molesters walk the streets, or that the government is just stringing us along acting as though they're doing something about illegal aliens when in fact they make little effort to get rid of even lowest criminal element of the millions of illegals in this country.

[TKDietz]

I read the article you linked and don't see how anyone could conclude from it that the "rape definitely occurred." It may have happened. All I know about it is what I have read in these two articles, but the only injuries specifically mentioned in either article were those caused by the mother. Rape is an awful crime, especially when the victim is a child, but not everyone accused of a crime is guilty. And I can tell you from experience handling a wide variety of criminal cases that while most people arrested are guilty of something, sexual abuse cases involving children are more likely than many other types of cases to turn out to be bogus. For instance, some are filed maliciously in contentious custody battles, and some are the product of a misunderstanding in communications between a parent and a young child where the parent's imagination runs wild and words are inadvertently put in the child's mouth. Most of these guys are guilty though and I hate having to work those kind of cases but I have seen cases where the allegations proved to be false. Being falsely accused of something like this is probably close to being as bad if not worse in some ways than being a victim of one of these crimes.