A crime compounded

Women's organisations rally to seek an end to a rape victim's continuing trauma.

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in Jaipur

A 26-YEAR-OLD woman was allegedly gang-raped inside a moving van by at least three persons in Jaipur on May 22. It was a crime compounded, for she was the victim of a gang-rape in September 1997. The 1997 incident, which came to be referred to as the "J.C. Bose Hostel case", had attracted a lot of attention since influential persons were alleged to have been involved in it and progressive women's organisations from all over the country came down heavily on the Rajasthan Government for failing to arrest the 14 alleged offenders. The victim had also accused some of these persons of having sexually exploited her between 1992 and 1997.

Having recovered partially from the trauma she underwent after the 1997 incident, the victim had, with the help of a women's organisation, begun to work in a library attached to Vihaan, a children's resource centre, from April 1998. Her father told Frontline: "An autorickshaw we had arranged would pick her up from home, drop her at Vihaan and bring her back by about 5 p.m."

The May 22 incident appears to be directly related to the J.C. Bose Hostel incident. According to the first information report (FIR), filed by the victim, at around 4.10 p.m. that day, she was waiting for the autorickshaw when a van stopped near her and two men, with their faces masked, got out. They enquired her about an address, which she said she did not know. They swiftly dragged her into the van, which, according to her, was occupied by two more persons, including the driver. The victim said that the three persons then raped her, beat her and threatened her that her family would be eliminated if she did not withdraw her FIR relating to the 1997 incident in the next 15 days. She alleged that the culprits specifically demanded that she withdraw the names of a Deputy Superintendent of Police and another person, who is politically connected, from her FIR. She was also told to drop the accusations against the son of an Additional Superintendent of Police, the latest FIR said.

According to the victim's father, charges in the J.C. Bose Hostel case were to be framed on May 25, two weeks after which the woman was to give her statement in court. "After joining Vihaan she was getting prepared mentally to give an in camera statement," he said.

GOPAL SUNGER
A sit-in demonstration in front of the Rajasthan Assembly building.

In the J.C. Bose Hostel incident, even though the victim had stated that eight persons raped her while some others were cheering on the perpetrators of the crime, the police arrested only six persons. In the case of sexual exploitation, only six of the 15 alleged offenders were arrested. (The 1997 rape case has two components, one of sexual exploitation and the other of rape, and the persons who were the accused in the former were allegedly involved in the latter too.) Although the victim had named a Deputy Superintendent of Police as one of those who had exploited her sexually, the police have not treated him as an accused person. According to the police, one of those accused of sexual exploitation is absconding.

Ironically, on May 7, Kavita Srivastava of the Mahila Atyachar Virodhi Jan Andolan, a body constituted to fight atrocities against women, had written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) about the progress made by the victim after she began to work at the child resource centre. The letter also highlighted the fact that the victim was in a position to give her statement in court. Kavita Srivastava had sought the intervention of the NCW as the rape victim's family members were being threatened in a bid to force them to withdraw the cases. Moreover, the security provided to the woman was withdrawn at the time of the elections. "Already the family is being pressured to withdraw the names of the accused. These pressures may take an aggressive turn as the date of the deposition comes closer... proper security cover should be provided to her now that she will be deposing in court," Kavita Srivastava wrote.

Following the 1997 incident, the NCW had constituted a five-member inquiry committee, which included Justice D.S. Tewatia, retired Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, and Ved Marwah, former Commissioner of Police, Delhi. The Rajasthan police told the committee that the reason for the delay in apprehending the alleged culprits was that they had fled the State. However, the NCW was told that some of those who were absconding would be arrested. The police affirmed that the investigation would be completed soon and the challans presented to the court before September end.

According to the NCW, Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had informed the inquiry committee "of the Government's seriousness in apprehending the accused and taking the case to its logical conclusion."

The case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, according to the victim's father, neither he nor any women's organisation had demanded a CBI investigation. He fears that it is a tactic aimed at dragging on the case, since elections to the State Assembly are round the corner.

MEANWHILE, political parties and women's organisations staged protests in Jaipur. At least 20 women's organisations joined a demonstration outside the State Secretariat. Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association, said that Shekhawat had forfeited the right to remain in power; Captain Laxmi Sehgal, who was a leader of the Indian National Army, said that she would be compelled to return the Padma Bhushan she had been awarded if atrocities against women continued.

Even as the protests continued in Jaipur, the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Hari Shanker Bhabhra and Home Minister Kailash Meghwal were away in Delhi discussing party matters.

GOPAL SUNGER
Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association, addressing protestors in Jaipur.

Two former Chief Ministers, Shiv Charan Mathur and Jagannath Pahadia, also demanded the resignation of Shekhawat. The Congress(I) has announced an agitation on June 1 in Jaipur to press its demand for the resignation of the Shekhawat Government. Further, the party plans to launch an agitation against the State Government from June 15 in all district headquarters.

The May 22 incident is likely to affect the image of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the State, coming as it does at a time when the party was hoping to gain maximum mileage from the Pokhran nuclear tests. The Chief Minister had called up the victim's father. "The Chief Minister called me up and said that he was very ashamed of the incident. He said that he would not spare anyone involved in the case," he said.

However, the father is in no mood to give up. "This is not my fight alone," he said. "I am also fighting for the rights of the women of this State."

Table of Contents

Home | The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar