INDIA: Handicapped torture and rape victim waits ten years for justice 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, that torture and rape victim Hasna Mondal from East Daukimari, District Jalpaiguri, West Bengal is still waiting for the perpetrators to be punished, ten years after the brutal incident.

A complaint was filed the day after the incident, on 28 February 1995, but it was registered by Officer-in-Charge Gautam Sen, who was involved in Hasna’s abuse. For this reason, Hasna was not produced before a magistrate until 1996, when Sen was transferred and a new investigating officer for her case was appointed. The matter was then transferred to the Sessions Court, Jalpaiguri and heard by the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, where it is still pending. And since at present the Additional Sessions Court has no judge, it is now indefinitely delayed. In the meantime, Hasna and her family have been receiving threats to withdraw the case–although she has filed complaints against the threats, the police have typically taken no action.

This case is a perfect example of the absolute failure of the basic institutions safeguarding the rule of law in India. The AHRC urges you to intervene and ask the West Bengal government to immediately proceed with the case without any further delay and to ensure that the perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted accordingly.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victim: Ms Hasna Mondal, daughter of late Mahadeb Mondal, 23 years old, (13 years old at the time of incident and studying in class VIII of Daukimari D.N. High School)
Place of incident: East Daukimari, Dhupguri Police station, Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Prafulla Sarkar, son of Late Manmohan Sarkar, a local quack doctor
2. Sandhya Sarkar, wife of Prafulla Sarkar
3. Pradip Sarkar, son of Prafulla Sarkar
4. Adhir Sarkar, son of Harmohan Sarkar, Village-Jharalta Gram, Dhupguri
5. Brajeswar Sarkar, East Daukimari, Dhupguri
6. Tapan Singha Roy, driver of car no WGV 2335
7. Bahumulya Sarkar, son of Prafulla Sarkar, village-South Kanthulia, Dhupguri
8. Gobinda Sarkar, East Daukimari, Dhupguri
9. Gautam Sen (now dead), Officer in Charge of the Dhupguri Police station
10. A.K.Saha, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dey.S.P.) of Jalpaiguri
11. C.V.Muraleedhar, the then Superintendent of Police, Jalpaiguri (now promoted to Ispector General of Police)
Date of incident: 27 February 1995 at about 7:00pm to 28 February 1995 at about 4:30am

Case details:

Hasna Mondal, an orthopaedically handicapped girl (certified by the Government of West Bengal) belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. On the night of 27 February 1995, which happened to be Shivratri, an Indian festival, Hasna was busy praying at the local temple in her village along with many others. It was there that Pradip Sarkar, a fellow villager, asked her to accompany him home and help him get some things needed at the temple. Very innocently, Hasna went along with him, little knowing that it was the beginning of an endless round of torture for her.

At home, Pradip, his father (Prafulla Sarkar) and mother (Sandhya Sarkar) started harassing Hasna to find out the whereabouts of their son Prabir who had eloped with their neighbour Mitali Sarkar, who also happened to be Hasna’s classmate. Hasna denied knowledge about them but Prafulla paid no heed to this and continued with his harassment. He then started beating her and was joined by his wife, Sandhya who caught hold of Hasna’s hair and assaulted her. Prafulla then beat her with a bamboo pole and was joined by Pradip. Hasna was soon so abused that she could barely move.

The perpetrators then called for a taxi (no: WGV 2335) and forcefully took Hasna to the Dhupguri Police Station. It was around 8:00pm and the taxi had not only Prafulla and Pradip but also Adhir, Bahumulya, Brajeswar and Gobida.Hasna was dragged to the office of Gautam Sen, the officer-in-charge, Dhupguri Police Station who also started asking her questions on the whereabouts of Prabir. Hasna’s silence infuriated him and he threatened to put her behind bars. She was then severely beaten by Gautam and this so called police inquiry went on until 12:30am. Hasna was then handed back to the people who brought her to the police station by Gautam, saying they could do whatever they liked with her except let her die.

Though Hasna pleaded with Gautam not to send her away with her abusers, and instead let her stay at the police station, he refused. As Hasna was being dragged away by her abusers, they started pulling her sari away. And though this happened in the police compound, no policemen came to her aid. Hasna was pushed into the same taxi and they drove away to the Kalir Hat School field some distance away. Here, Prafulla loudly announced that they had to teach Hasna a lesson and instigated everyone to start molesting her. Adhir Sarkar pulled at her sari and blouse, while the others removed her undergarments. They shoved her onto the backseat of the car and then Adhir raped her. After that it was the driver, Tapan Singha Roy’s turn. Almost unconscious, Hasna was dragged into the open field by Brajeswar, Pradip, Gobinda and Bahumulya and once again raped, this time by Brajeswar and then Pradip. Hasna became unconscious and at about 4:30am her body was left in front of her house. Bahumulya Sarkar then informed Hasna’s family members, who took her into the house.

Local villagers were outraged by this incident, and went to the police station the next morning (February 28) to file a complaint. However, the FIR was registered by Officer-in-Charge Gautam Sen. Hasna was taken to the Dhupguri government hospital where two doctors, Ms Basumata and Ms Sanchita De examined her. They then held a closed-door discussion with Gautam Sen, whereby the medical report that stated bloodstains were present on the lower petticoat was seized by the police.

In protest, the Daukimari villagers went on strike: all primary and secondary schools, shops, markets, etc. were closed and even bus services were suspended on that day (February 28).

The case (No:15/95) which had been registered under 376(2)(g) and 120B of the Indian Penal code had Gautam Sen as the investigating officer. He was later transferred and Mr Ashim Ghosh took over as the officer-in-charge of the police station and as the investigating officer. It was only then that Hasna was produced before a Judicial Magistrate attached to the District Criminal Court where her statement was recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Penal Code.  The charge sheet (no:67/96) was made after the investigations were completed and submitted, only on 26 December 1996 before the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Jalpaiguri after a long time had elapsed. The matter was then transferred to the Sessions Court of Jalpaiguri and was heard by the 1st Additional Sessions Judge.

Since then, all the witnesses have been examined except the Investigating officer. The last witness, Dr Basumata was examined as the prosecution witness no 9 on 4-7-2003.After that the court seems to be just giving dates without any thing much happening. The dates that were fixed for the examination of the investigating officer have been over a whole year-9-8-2003,9-9-2003,5-12-2003,22-1-2004,26-2-2004,15-5-2004.19-8-2004,20-8-2004 and 12-10-2004.Hasna’s examination has also delayed on similar lines. And to top it all, at present the 1st Additional Sessions Judge court is vacant as the presiding judge has been transferred adding a further element of delay to the already prolonged case.

In the meantime, Hasna’s father passed away, resulting in little income now being generated – her sisters and mother are in the business of making bidis (a local substitute for cigarettes). Of her eight sisters, no one was able to get married because of the stigma now attached to the family. None of the marriage proposals that come forward materialise into anything concrete when the families hear that Hasna was gang-raped. Furthermore, her family have also been receiving threats to withdraw the case from various people. Members of the CPIM have been offering them money to close the case. Though Hasna has lodged several complaints at the Dhupguri Police Station – on 24-7-200 vide Dhupguri Police Station GDE no 894 (threat by Prafulla Sarkar of dire consequences); 12-8-2000 vide Dhupguri Police Station GDE no 460 (for offering bribe to withdraw the criminal case against Prafulla Sarkar); 23-1-2001 vide Dhupguri Police Station.GDE (for criminal trespass at night by accused Brajeswar Sarkar and threat); 23-4-2001 vide Dhupguri Police Station GDE (for creating terror), no action has been taken by the police as yet on any of the complaints.

This case reflects how deteriorated the institutions which should be ensuring rule of law in India are. The very fact that the police officer who is duty bound to safeguard citizens’ rights and liberty participated in the persecution campaign of the victim and that the very same officer was entrusted with the investigation of the case exposes the fathoms into which the policing of India has fallen. The manner in which the proceedings in the court is stalled shows how far the judiciary in India is able and willing to safeguard the rights of the people and how forthcoming are remedies in case of violations. This case also exposes the blatant bluff of the Government of India, to the international community and to its citizens that the domestic mechanisms that are in place are capable of safeguarding the citizens from torture and other abuses.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting him to take immediate steps to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of this horrific crime against an innocent handicapped girl and also to ensure the safety and protection of the victim and her family. Please also send copies of that letter to those persons listed below.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER