INDIA: Police refuse to register First Information Report and act on a complaint by the wife of a victim in West Bengal 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, regarding the alleged murder of a man and the unsuccessful attempts by his wife to lodge a complaint at a police station.

Munaruddin Seikh’s brother and Rafiqul Mondal were running a joint business for years but due to certain differences, they soon parted ways and instead became adversaries. Munaruddin however, stood by his brother who anticipating trouble from his rival lodged a complaint against Rafiqul in Jalangi station on 23 October 2002.

The Jalangi police intervened and with their help the differences were settled amicably. It is however alleged that Rafiqul was not satisfied with this settlement and on 25 November 2005 asked Munaruddin to visit him. After a long wait when he had still not returned home, his wife Sarifa, went to Rafiqul’s house looking for him but did not find any of them there. After looking all over, she then lodged a complaint at Jalangi Police Station (General diary entry no 1786 dated 30 November 2005) alleging that Rafiqul had killed her husband.

On the same day, she found her husband’s body on the banks of the Padma River. His body had several injury marks and his hands and feet were tied with rope.

Jalangi police station was informed and the body was sent for post mortem to Behrampore General Hospital, Murshidabad and after that to the Behrampore Police morgue. The body was subsequently handed over to the deceased’s family.

Despite, Sarifa’s repeated visits to the police station, the police refused to treat her complaint as a First Information Report (FIR) and have taken no action in this case. It is alleged that they are waiting for the post mortem report to be released before taking any action. Sarifa also approached the Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal but received no help from him either. She has also been receiving threats from the accused.

We therefore ask for your intervention. Please write to the Director General of Police and others asking them to firstly ensure that an FIR is lodged and the allegations of the victim’s family fully investigated. Action should also be taken against all those police officers who refused to register the FIR, which is against the law. Protection should also be given to the victim’s family as they have been under threat.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION

Name of victims:
1. Munaruddin Seikh, 30, son of Gubbar Seikh
2. Sarifa Bewa, widow of Munaruddin Seikh
Address: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Police station, Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal
Place of incident: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Village, Jalangi
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Rafiqul Mondal, son of Chaharuddin Mondal
2. Mr. Subir Pal, Officer-in-charge, Jalangi Police Station
3. Mr. Bitan Pradhan, Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal
Date of Incident: 25 November 2005 onwards

Case Details:

Munaruddin Seikh’s brother, Nairuddin Seikh and Rafiqul Mondal were running a joint business for years until things soured and they split due to some differences. They soon became adversaries and in the many confrontations that took place between the two groups, Munaruddin always stood by his brother.

Fearing an attack by Rafiqul because of their differences, Nairuddin lodged a complaint with the Jalangi Police Station (general diary Entry no 1059, dated 23 October 2002) against Rafiqul Mondal. However, the Jalangi police intervened and matters were amicably resolved. It is alleged that Rafiqul however, remained dissatisfied with this sort of an informal settlement.

On 25 November 2005, at around 7:30 p.m, Rafiqul asked Munaruddin to come to his house. After a few hours, when Munaruddin had still not returned home, his wife, Sarifa became anxious and went looking for him. She neither found them at Rafiqul’s house nor anywhere else and in desperation went to the Jalangi police station to register a complaint on 30 November 2005. In the complaint (general diary entry no: 1786) she alleged that Rafiqul had murdered her husband.

On the same day, she found her husband’s body on the banks of the Padma River with several injury marks. His hands and feet had also been tied suggesting that it was a case of unnatural death. The Jalangi Police were informed and the body was sent to the Behrampore General Hospital, Murshidabad (Unnatural death case no:21/05, dated 30 November 2005) for post mortem. The body was subsequently sent to the Behrampore police morgue on December 1 and then handed over to the victim’s family (disposal certificate-annual post mortem serial no 895, dated 1 December 2005).

However, it is unfortunate that despite Sarifa’s repeated visits to the police station, the police refused to treat her complaint as a FIR. It is alleged that the officers have been totally uncooperative and have claimed that they are waiting for the post mortem report to be released before they can go any further. Sarifa also approached the Circle Inspector of Police but did not receive any help from him. On top of this, she has also been receiving threats from the accused to not proceed any further with this case.

It is also alleged that Rafiqul, the man accused in this case is associated with Sajidur Rahman who is a member of the Panchayat Samity and is supposedly involved in illegal activities such as cross border smuggling. In this smuggling nexus, the border security forces as well as the local police and members of the administration are also involved.

Police inaction in this matter is a violation of Section 154, CrPC 1973. Since this is a cognizable offence, the police should investigate this matter as soon as the complaint is filed.

We once again see the collapse of the law enforcement system in the state.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Director General of Police and others asking them to ensure that an FIR is lodged and an investigation carried out.

 

 

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