Taking law in your hands

While the Delhi gang rape case has led to more reporting of such instances nationwide and an increasing public awareness of the rights of women, in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh, a spiral of physical assaults on women by uniformed police men and other government employees, have put paid to the state government’s clarion call to provide security to its denizens, particularly low caste backward women.
consider this:

1. In Sarguja district’s Chando police station, July 6, 2011, 15-year-old Meena Khelkon was allegedly raped by the police, branded as a Naxalite and then killed in an encounter. When the issue was raised in the state assembly, a CID inquiry was ordered but it reached no dramatic conclusions. There is still no charge sheet filed

2. In November 2012, in Narayanpur’s Koliyari village, four police personnel allegedly gang raped a 35-year-old tribal woman. Charges were filed under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals specially with outraging the modesty of a woman by the police. The issue has been put into cold storage

3. Two special police officers (SPOs) attached to the Chhindgarh police station allegedly raped a minor; an FIR was filed but there have been no further investigations.

4. Soni Sori, a tribal woman was picked up ten months ago by the police on charges of being a Maoist sympathiser. She alleged that in the presence of the district SP, she was stripped and molested but managed to avoid rape. She continues to be behind bars. One of the officers reportedly involved in the incident was, ironically, later felicitated with a President’s Medal.

Welcome to Chhattisgarh, a haven for cop rapists who get away as clean as a whistle and a state which came into existence as a separate entity for tribals in 2000, threatens its denizens the most. While by means restricted to the state, the security provided for tribal women is increasingly coming under a cloud by, ironically, those meant to be upholders of law and order.
 
Now it seems, even the others are joining in. Last fortnight, in Kanker district’s Government Jhaliamari Ashram, 16 tribal girls were raped and molested by their teachers and similar reports from three government hostels suggest that no matter how high sounding the law is, there is little safety for tribals living in Chhattisgarh.

Says human rights activist BK Manish, who has also been campaigning for introducing the Fifth Schedule, a special constitutional provision which provides powers for governance in the country’s tribal hinterland, “Things have reached such a stage that tribals have stopped going to the police, knowing they are not going to get justice.”

In Chhattisgarh, tribals constitute the majority 31.81 per cent of the population followed by 11.60 per cent Scheduled Castes or Dalits. Cases of rapes, land grabbing and encounters as alleged by Maoists, are common place. According to the National Crime Bureau (NCB), despite the presence of a 1989 special ordinance which deals with the safe keep of tribals, there were 879 cases registered against those committing atrocities on them; of those charged, 172 were convicted while 625 got away due to lack of evidence.

Former Union Minister and tribal leader, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Nand Kumar Sai, says he is a worried man. “The state Governor should use his powers to provide relief. The Constitution gives him the authority of take special steps for protecting tribals. Why isn't he using them?” he asks TSI.

According to a police officer who prefers to talk off the record, the biggest impediment in pursuing the cases is the lack of government go-ahead. According to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, no investigation can proceed without the government’s clearance. A case in point is the Janjgir-Chapa gang rape case of a 40-year-old tribal woman where senior police officers declined to give their approval for the probe. Not surprisingly, the officer who had build up a case against the accused was shown the door!

To be sure, there has been no shortage of progressive legislation or inquiry commissions suggesting solutions for the safety of tribals; it is their implementation that is turning out to be a non-starter. The SC-ST Act, 1989, provides for special courts in all districts but instead, the government has concentrated its energies on improving policing. Says former IAS officer BP Netam, currently secretary of the All India Tribal Welfare and Gondwana Society, “Special courts would have helped in nailing culprits. Today a number of policemen accused of rape are absconding and there is little that the government can do.”

Interestingly, the number of organisations who claim to represent tribal interests in the state, are multiplying. There is the All Adivasi Sangh, the Adivasi Mahasabha, Gondwana Gantantra Party and Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan but instead of raising relevant issues, they are tied up in petty turf squabbles. For instance, not one of them has highlighted the relevance of the SC-ST Act which categorically states that in every district, a committee comprising the District Magistrate, SP, MP and MLA will review cases connected to atrocities on Dalits and dispose of cases which they can. In reality, no such meetings have been held in most districts; in others, such committees function as a mere formality with virtually nothing to show for results.

A tribal police officer who claims he was discriminated against by his high caste colleagues while in service, says that while the law is very progressive, a casual attitude towards filing cases has led to some of them being thrown out of the court on flimsy grounds or on matter of detail.

While the SC-ST Act directs that cases be probed only by officers above the rank of ACPs, in reality, roughly 95 per cent cases are dismissed by the courts because investigations have been conducted by junior or low-level policemen, not authorised to do so under the law.

Nonetheless, Chhattisgarh is pulling out all stops in a year when the state assembly is slated to go for polls. It has earmarked a sum of Rs 2,300 crores for the development of tribals, particularly women. Says M Usendi, himself a tribal and a former police officer, “It is important that all police stations are computerised and cases are registered. If the victims feel that the public prosecutors fighting their cases are not up to the mark, then new lawyers should be hired at the state's expense.” All are good points; now it just boils down to political initiative.

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