Skip to main content

Madhya Pradesh sexual assault, rape: No effort to book culprits two months after incident, says fact-finding team

Hut-roof "broken" by cops
By Our Representative
A Madhya Pradesh Mahila Morcha fact-finding team, which visited Holibayda and Bhutiya villages of Dhar district in February third week following complaints of sexual violence against nine tribal women, including two minors, has regretted that even two months after the incident there has not been any arrest.
“There has been no effort to identify the accused through an identification parade. Charges of sexual assault, loot and loss of property are not yet registered”, the report says.
The eight-person team consisted of independent activists from several towns of Madhya Pradesh, Ram Kuwar and Kirma from Prithampur, Preeti and Shivani Bajpai from Indore, Shivani Taneja and Madhu Dhurve from Bhopal, and Anu Arvind from Dewas, and one activist from Bangalore, Gopika Bashi.
Also investigating allegations of loot and pillage by district police functionaries, the team in its report says, it was “appalled and horrified to hear complaints of women, and believes that the state has miserably failed to protect the rights of its citizens.”
A charpoi "broken" by police personnel
The report says, “A middle aged woman showed how she was pushed when she tried to save her newly married daughter’s belongings and precious money the family had saved after selling the soyabean crop. To silence her protests, one of the policemen pinned her down and raped her.”
Then, “another woman, who lives alone with her children, pointed to the cooking stove where she had been dragged and raped when she protested against the theft of her household belongings.”
In a third case, “another woman, visibly six months pregnant, was similarly raped”, adding, it also found “young mothers and unmarried girls have been attacked on their breasts and touched inappropriately.”
Pointing out that over 220 police functionaries of 13 police stations and district headquarters were involved in the raid which took place in the early hours of January 25, the team says, “The crime carried out by these police functionaries is being hidden under the cloud of counter-allegations.”
Regretting that retaliatory warrants were issued against the victims, the report says, “The team examined the lists of the warrants issued. Of the 143 warrants, a cursory glance showed repetition of names; it is obvious that this number is not equivalent to number of individuals.”
Cops "didn't spare" musical instruments 
It adds, “Police has been saying that they were shot at, but no such arms were retrieved, nor gunshot injuries reported. It is evident that these are excuses the police have come up with for its defense… The police cannot be excused for the plunder and violence they caused.”
Pointing out that the team saw “many households in the affected villages of Holibayda and Bhutiya have suffered a massive loss of property and materials”, the team says, “The roofs have been brought down, windows broken, grains stolen.”
Additionally, the team found “deliberate destruction of the soyabean stored as seed for the next crop by throwing pesticide in them or slashing of traditional musical instruments, khats and chairs, utensils crushed and broken, in some of the houses suggests a rampage and revenge for their existence.”
The report says, despite the visits of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in the area, which led to announcement for setting up of a Special Investigation Team of the police, “it took one month for the testimonies of the rape survivors to be taken under Section 164 in the Court.”
One of the villages "attacked" by cops
Calling all this “dilly-dallying and delaying tactics”, the team demands that “charges of sexual assault and loot be added in the chargesheet with immediate suspension of members of the police that were involved in these operations in the villages”, even as punishing “the perpetrators of violence.”

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Very low rung in quality ladder': Critique of ICMR study on 'sudden deaths' post-2021

By Bhaskaran Raman*  Since about mid-2021, a new phenomenon of extreme concern has been observed throughout the world, including India : unexplained sudden deaths of seemingly healthy and active people, especially youngsters. In the recently concluded Navratri garba celebrations, an unprecedented number of young persons succumbed to heart attack deaths. After a long delay, ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) has finally has published a case-control study on sudden deaths among Indians of age 18-45.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.