Gang-rape of Adivasi woman: fact-finding report

The following is a press release issued by Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS):

An all–India women’s fact-finding team of four members visited Gajapthi district in Orissa on September 30 and October 1 to investigate into the alleged rape, on February 12, 2010, of a 20- year-old Adivasi woman by security and police forces.

Village Jadingi along with other villages of Gajapati district have been subject to combing operations as the area is supposed to be having hectic Maoist activity. The arrest and rape of this woman has largely gone unreported and therefore there was a need to investigate. The team met the woman, her parents, people in her village, the sarpanch, panchayat samiti members, her two lawyers, local police station personnel, the jailer and the jail pharmacist. A telephonic conversation was made with the SP, Gajapathi district.

Facts of the Case

According to the police diary, the woman, a Kondh, resident of village Jadingi, Adava Police Station, Block Mohana, was picked up along with two others by SOG and other security staff led by ASI D. Mahapatra from their villages on 12 February, 2010. No woman constable was present at the time.

She was picked up at about 4 a.m. in village Jadingi, as per the testimonies of people in the village. Many villagers (more than seven, in the presence of the entire community) testified that the security personnel had forcibly entered their houses and beaten them up.

The woman was beaten up in front of her parents and other villagers. She was then dragged away along with three others (her brother and cousins) from her village. Subsequently, another two boys were picked up from Tangili, a neighbouring village. She was blindfolded while walking. Two of these boys were allowed to return after they had walked a few kilometers from the village.

The police records, however, show that she was arrested at 4:30 p.m, which is almost 12 hours after she was actually picked up from the village.

She was gang-raped in the jungles before being brought to the police headquarters. She has clearly stated this in her statement to the Magistrate, and also in her testimony to us. She was also shown obscene pictures on the mobile and sexually abusive language was used by the police/SOG forces.

She and her cousins were threatened at gun-point not to divulge any information about this incident.

Several people, including the sarpanch and her family members went to Adava Police Station to enquire about her and the others by about 10 a.m. on the morning of February 12 itself, but they were not allowed to go in and meet anyone, and were told that they have no information from the barricaded gates of the thana itself. They waited the whole day, but no information was provided to them about her whereabouts and safety.

A month later, the family was able to trace her to R. Udaigiri jail when some people of a neighboring village reported hearing that she was there. Upon meeting her, she immediately informed her parents about the rape incident.

Her father filed a complaint in the J.F.M.C. Udaigiri only in August 2010 about the incident of rape in custody. There has been a continuous atmosphere of tension and insecurity amongst the adivasi villagers in the area since this incident; people are voluntarily surrendering to avoid being falsely killed in encounters or arrested and getting stuck in jails uncertainly. All these factors, plus the fact that his daughter was engaged to be married in May 2010 and this kind of news would harm her future prospects played on the parents’ mind before taking this decision. They have also written to the Chief Minister, State Women’s Commission, State Human Rights Commission and Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court. They have received no response from anyone.

The Magistrate has taken the petition into cognizance, and has recorded her and her father’s statements. Despite the seriousness and gravity of the crime, the police has not taken any action in filing an FIR or initiating an enquiry against its own personnel. In fact, the SP does not feel that he should be doing anything suo motto even though he said he is well aware of the incident through various sources, including the media.

The manner in which she was picked up and the subsequent lapses in procedures clearly show that the security forces, the police, the court and the jail have completely disregarded all safeguards available for women in custody.

*She was picked up in the night hours from her residence.
*No woman constable was present at the time of her pick-up in the village.*No custody memo was given to the family members.
*Instead of anyone from the family / village, a ‘fake’ witness has been recorded in the arrest memo (her family members and local sarpanch waited in front of the thana the whole day but they were not given any information and could have been called in as witness).
*Place of arrest has not been shown in the arrest memo.
*No medical examination was done at the police station or at the time of producing in the court.
*At the time of producing before the Magistrate, she was only asked to sign some papers and her finger-prints were taken. She was not asked anything about ill-treatment and whether she needs legal assistance or a medical examination.
*At the time of entry in the jail, she reported being severely beaten up with rifle butts by the security forces (this was confirmed by the pharmacist also). Instead of taking this as a serious human rights violation and probing further (which might have revealed the rape in the beginning), this was considered as a routine case and was treated with simple pain-killers and other medicines.
*Only a cursory medical report has been prepared at the jail.
*Although it is mandatory that under-trial prisoners should be presented in the court once every 15 days, she has been presented in the court only once during the entire period of over seven months of judicial custody till the petition on the rape case was filed.

Demands
The Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression network demands:
*Criminal proceedings be immediately initiated against the police and SOG personnel who were part of the raid team on 12February, 2010 for committing the heinous crime of rape and/or protecting the perpetrators.
*Procedures and safeguards for protecting women in custody must be strictly adhered to.
*Women in conflict areas are much more vulnerable to sexual violence and we demand a serious response from the district and state administration when a woman shows the courage to make such a serious complaint.

Members of the Fact Finding Team:


Shivani Taneja (Bhopal) (tel-9425600382)
K. Anuradha(Vishakhapatnam)
Pramodini Pradhan(Bhubaneswar) (tel-9439200989)

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) is network of women’s organizations, human rights organizations and individuals from across India. It is a non-funded effort initiated by women, and is concerned with atrocities and repression against women by state and non-state actors, especially in conflict zones. Contact Email: againstsexualviolence@gmail.com

NAPM reports fresh incidents from Nandigram: Is gang-rape now part of CPI (M) line?

It is a disturbing thought, but the time has come to ask if the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is using the feudal lords’ practice of employing gang-rape as a means of suppressing foes.

Several instances of rape were reported from Nandigram during the past year. In a News Update/Action Alert, the National Alliance of People’s Movement yesterday provided information on some fresh incidents, including gang-rape.

The following is the text of the NAPM communication:

The shocking news from Nandigram, where the battle is still on, is of the gang-rape of Radharani Ari from the village of Gokulnagar and the attack of three other women, all of whom are hospitalized at the Nandigram Public Hospital. The men are said to be missing.

In a fresh attack around midnight and beyond April 18th, known CPI (M) members and Harmad Vahini, the Party's armed force, from Khejuri, who are like goons, attacked the house of Radha Rani and Pratap Ari, threw Pratap Ari in the tank nearby and gang-raped Radha Rani Ari for the second time, in her own house.

Radharani Ari is one of the women at the forefront of the struggle. Coming from a Dalit landless family, supported by Pratap Ari, her husband, Radharani was always protesting against the SEZ chemical hub project and giving away the land, houses, nature, and culture of Nandigram. Her heart and soul are in it and she is one of the most articulate and courageous women and had even toured the places of struggle in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra, with us in Nandigram-Narmada- Gorai Jatha.

Narmada Sheet has also been a very committed and outspoken agitator from Sonachura. Other women attacked include Mona Pramanik, and a few men were also
missing when the news reached us early yesterday morning. Till this time, Radha Rani, Pratap, Ari and Narmada Sheet and some others are in the Nandigram Hospital and a few in Tamluk. At least 20 houses have been attacked since yesterday and 100 members of the families, along with houses, much destroyed and belongings looted, have become homeless, left to be supported by the BUPC Committee. These atrocious incidents occurred in Gokul Nagar, Sonachura and Gadhchakrabedia, under the leadership of Nabakumar Samanta and other CPM active cadres and leaders from Garu Pada, Gokul Nagar, some of whom came from Kejuri.

Reportedly, there were also blasts in some houses, including in the house of one Kokhon Sheet, who was just released, after months-long judicial custody.

Nandigram continues to be one of the worst blots on the face of Indian democracy. These atrocities continue to happen and recur in Nandigram with the active involvement of the local CPI(M) cadres and leaders and tacit approval and blessings of the party leadership at various levels. With most of the victims for earlier incidents of violence, not even having received just compensation for atrocities perpetrated against them, and in fact false cases foisted against the victims of violence, as against the perpetrators, these fresh blows in their already scarred lives is nothing short of a death blow to the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the valiant residents of Nandigram.

Condemning the continuing violence in Nandigram in the strongest possible terms, we immediately demand the following:

1. All the accused must be immediately identified, charged and arrested for gang-rape, grievous hurt, intimidation, assault, illegal confinement and wrongful detention and other relevant penal provisions.

2. The National Human Rights Commission must take immediate cognizance of the violations in Nandigram and recommend stringent penal action against all those involved, including instituting an inquiry into the involvement of the CPI(M) leadership and cadres in the planning/abetment/execution of the crimes committed.

3. The National Commission for Women must immediately constitute a fact-finding delegation that must visit Nandigram and submit its Report to the NHRC and also direct immediate payment of compensation to all the women raped and all others injured.

4. Free legal, medical, psycho-social and other aid and support must be provided to the women and all victims of state and party violence in Nandigram.

5. Compensation to all the affected and attacked, with houses destroyed and rapes/molestation faced, must be paid immediately as per the High Court orders.

Debjeet Shrikant, Medha Patkar
NAPM,
West Bengal.

Annexure

Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee – Nandigram
(B.U.P.C)
Nandigram :: Purba Midnapur :: West Bengal

Ref No ............
Date: 19-04-2008

List of the persons injured by CPI(M) goons

Sl. No. Name Village Age
6.Radharani Ari (raped) Gokulnagar 50
7.Mani Pramanik Gokulnagar 35
8.Chabirani Pamanik Gokulnagar 50
9.Pratap Ari Gokulnagar 55
10.Nandu Mandal Gokulnagar 30
11.Phanindranath Mandal Gokulnagar 73
12.Sudarshan Pramanik Gokulnagar 37
13.Gopal Ari Gokulnagar 22
14.Subhendu Ari Gokulnagar 20
15.Sheik Golam Ahmed Nagekirachar 46
16.Sheik Nazrul Islam 7th Part,Jalpai 45
17.Sheik Mafijul Islam 7th Part,Jalpai 58
18.Hafeja Bibi 7th Part, Jalpai 28
19. Najma Bibi 7th Part, Jalpai 30
20.Sheik Rejaul 7th Part,Jalpai 28
21.Sheik Abdul Rashid 7th Part,Jalpai 45.