Skip to main content

Jharkhand gangrape: Seeking to "tarnish" Pathalgarhi tribal rebels, 1000 cops raid seven villages

By Our Representative
A fact-finding team, constituted by the Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression and Sexual Repression (WSS), on gang rape of five adivasis women on June 19 in Kochang village of Jharkhand’s Khunti district, where they had performed 16 street plays on anti-trafficking, has accused the police of focusing “entirely on a campaign to tarnish the Pathalgarhi movement” of the region instead of investigating the rape incident itself.
Pathalgarhi is a rebel movement, seeking to “demarcate” the tribal territories and “tell outsiders (government officials) that the law of the land does not apply here”, insisting, they are “the real inhabitants of this country” and “jal, jungle, jameen (water, forest and land)”.
Efforts to tarnish the movement, says the team in its report, is clear from the fact that “on June 27, a 1,000-member strong force of CRPF, RAF, JAF and personnel from other units raided Ghaghra (a village with a population of around 300) and neighbouring seven villages.”
It adds, “Out of these seven villages, Pathalgarhi had only been declared in three or four villages. Out of the two villages where Pathalgarhi had been initiated, the security forces unleashed brutal violence in the form of beatings and atrocities on men, women and children, lathi-charge, tear-gassing and rubber pellet shootings, and also raided the homes of the residents.”
It adds, “One person died in the lathi-charge, a minor girl suffered fracture, and between 150-300 persons, including women in substantial numbers, were arrested. After the raids, residents of all eight villages have fled to the forest and nearby areas out of fear and terror.”
The fact-finding team, which visited the affected villages from June 28 to 30, attempted to meet the five survivors, currently under police custody, but was not granted access, nor was it given appointment to meet with the district collector and district police chief.
The street plays the five victims were performing were a collaborative effort between a home for rescued women, managed by the RC Mission in Jharkhand, and a troupe belonging to an NGO.
“The incident occurred on June 19, but two FIRs were filed on the incident, one at the Khunti police station, and the other at the Khunti Mahila police station, only on June 21”, the team says, adding, the delay took place even though the police “had already received information of the offence at least on June 20.”
The FIRs identify Father Alphonse and “other unidentified persons/Pathalgarhi supporters” as the accused, says the team, even though “there is videographic evidence of the incident.”
A week later the police released the photo of one of the accused from this video, one Baji Samant, “who is not a Pathalgarhi supporter, but a resident of a different village, Sarai-kela”, says the team, adding, “All other sources we spoke to including those form near by villages said that the four men who came on bikes (the suspects) were not from the area.”
The team further says, “While it is being projected in the media that Father Alphonse was arrested for not doing enough to prevent the incident, and for failing to report the case to the police, in the FIR he is accused of a range of very grave offences, most of which are non-bailable”, including “wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, disrobing, gang rape, kidnapping, kidnapping with intent to wrongfully confine and conspiracy.”
While the police claim that three other co-accused “are leaders of the Pathalgarhi movement”, the team points out, “On asking whether the identity of all five identified accused and their claims have been verified by the five survivors, we were told that only the SP office would respond to all the queries”.
Wondering why, despite “surreptitious medical examination” on the night of June 20, followed by “full medical examination” of all five survivors on June 21, they are still in police custody, the team asks, why are they not even allowed to speak to “anyone except the National Commission of Women (NCW) team”.
Also wondering as to “who is head of the NGO which was a part of the troupe and who has filed the first FIR”, and where has he “disappeared after filing the FIR”, the team accuses “the Jharkhand police and administration” for “maintaining utmost secrecy in the actions and proceedings subsequent to the incident.”
“In the name of pursuing unidentified suspects, the police has artificially linked those associated with the Pathalgarhi movement with the gang rape, and has unleashed targeted persecution, harassment and arrests on them”, the team opines.
It adds, “There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the four bikers who committed the crime were not localites. One of those from the video has been identified as Baji Samant, resident of neighbouring Sarai-Kela. Yet, instead of pursuing these identifiable accused, the police, with the support of security personnel, is targeting Pathalgarhi leaders as the prime suspects in the case.”

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

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.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.