INDIA: A mother and son denied justice by the local police

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a local human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India regarding the case of Ms. Ruksana Sardar and her son Warish who have been denied justice by the local police. It is alleged that Ruksana and her son were assaulted by the local political party cadres and that the police is refusing to investigate the case properly in spite of a complaint by the mother and her son.

CASE DETAILS:

It is reported that on 1 May 2007 while Ruksana and her son Warish were returning from the local market they found a local resident Mr. Tuma, engaged in some indecent activity by the side of the road. It is alleged that Tuma was drunk and was out of his senses. At the same time Mr. Idrish, a local resident who also happened to pass by saw what Tuma was doing and started beating Tuma.

Another passerby Mr. Sajid Mia who also came to the scene intervened and protested against Idrish. Idrish then assaulted Sajid also. At this juncture Warish intervened and tried to free Tuma from Idrish. In the meanwhile Tuma’s father came to the scene and took Tuma home.

The next day, that is on 2 May 2007 by about evening Warish was taken off from his place of work by force to Bandhab Somity Club by Tuma, Mr. Pradip and Mr. Amarnath. At the club, they were joined by Mr. Ashok Ghosh, Mr. Dhiman Kundu, Mr. Koutilya Sinha Roy, Mr. Sanjib Pandit, Mr. Asim Saha, Ms. Rinku Sinha, Ms. Rupi Banaerjee and Mr. Bapi Banerjee. These persons are allegedly related to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). All these persons then started assaulting Warish. Coming to know that Warish was being beaten at the club, Ruksana came to the club and tried to save Warish from the assailants. However, she also in the process of saving Warish got assaulted by the miscreants.

Later they were allowed to leave. While leaving Ruksana and Warish were warned that if they meddled with local politicians they would be killed. On their way back they were once again intercepted by Mr. Asim Saha, who further threatened them that they had the Chief Minister with him since they all belonged to the ruling party. He also assaulted Ruksana and Warish again and later left the place.

Ruksana and Warish were later taken to the Bangur Hospital at about 11pm. In the meanwhile Mr. Sujit, Ruksana’s husband was also informed about the incident and he came to the hospital. Ruksana was discharged from the hospital on May 4, while Warish was discharged on May 8.

While Ruksana and Warish were at the hospital, Sujit went to the Patuli Police Station on May 3 to lodge a complaint against the incident. At the police station his complaint was registered as diary entry number 107/2007 dated 3 May 2007. Once discharged from the hospital, Ruksana also went to the Patuli Police Station along with a witness to the entire incident Mr. Bhagirath.

The officer in charge at the police station Mr. Piyal Bhattacharya however refused to register Ruksana’s complaint and also informed Ruksana that she would never succeed in fighting a case against the local politicians. The officer also informed Ruksana that if she still wanted to pursue her case she should do so by approaching the Jadavpur Police Station. Ruksana was also advised not to approach Jadavpur Police Station on the same day, but on May 6. However Ruksana went to Jadavpur Police Station on the same day and got her complaint registered as First Information Report number 240.2007.

In spite of all these Ruksana finds that her complaint is not been investigated by the local police. The accused in the complaint obtained bail through the court and they are continuing to threaten her. Ruksana complains that it is due to the political influence of the accused that their case is not properly investigated. Ruksana is now living under the threat of those who has once assaulted her and her son. Ruksana is also afraid that since the local police have done nothing against her complaint the accused in her case, she cannot approach the local police again to redress her grievances.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below requesting for a thorough investigation into the case so that the assailants of Ruksana and her son are brought to trial and punished if found guilty.

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