INDIA: Child servant tortured by West Bengal police 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the torture of a 8 year old child Munni, who was working as a maidservant in the house of Raja Mukherjee, a police sub-inspector (SI).

Munni was brutally tortured and abused by SI Raja on 23 February 2005 at his residence, in East Midnapur District, West Bengal after being accused of stealing some biscuits and suffered grave injuries on her head, face and the inside of her ears. She was admitted to the Primary Health centre at Darigeria in West Midnapur the next day and was found to be in a serious condition. SI Raja however, claims that this incident took place at his in-laws house and he was not present at that time.

Although the hospital authorities have reported the incident to the police station in their district, action is yet to be taken against the perpetrator. Furthermore, SI Raja had earlier been suspended from his job due to certain reasons. Despite his bad record and even after the victim’s mother filed a written complaint, he has not been arrested.

We call for your urgent intervention into this matter. Please send a letter to the Minister-in-charge of Home Affairs, West Bengal and urge him to order a thorough and impartial inquiry into this incident by an independent investigating agency (not by the West Bengal state police) so that appropriate action can be taken against the perpetrator of this heinous crime. Since employing any child below 14 years is illegal under Indian law, the concerned police officer should also be held responsible for this. Laws should be made more stringent so that the employment of minors in India is thoroughly checked.

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

Name of the victim: Munni, age 8 years, daughter of Kakali Singha
Place of incident: Raja Mukherjee’s residence, East Midnapur District, West Bengal
Alleged perpetrator: Raja Mukherjee, Sub-inspector of Police, earlier attached toTamluk police station, East Midnapur District
Date of incident: 23 February 2005

Case Details:

Munni, an 8-year-old child was working as a maidservant in Raja Mukherjee, a police SI’s house. She belonged to a poor family and her mother Kakali Singha, a vegetable vendor deserted by her husband was unable to maintain her children on her meagre earnings. She therefore decided to send her 10-12 year old son, Amarjit and Munni away for work.

On 23 February 2005, Munni was accused of stealing a few biscuits and was severely beaten and abused by SI Raja and received serious injuries on her face, head and inside ear. This was refuted by SI Raja however who instead claimed that his wife had slapped Munni for stealing some biscuits from his in-laws house and he was not even present at that time.

Munni was hospitalised in the Primary Health Centre, Darigeria, West Midnapur District, the next day. Lapsing into unconsciousness, Munni’s condition remained very critical even a day later. Her injuries were the obvious result of a brutal beating by a “lathi”(club) as posited by Dr Swadesh Ranjan Maity, of the Health Centre. The hospital authorities had brought this to the notice of the police station falling under the West Midnapur District who have failed to take any action. The officer-in-charge, Mr Dibyendu Das of the Police Beat house, East Midnapur, said that a written complaint by the victim’s mother had been received but no action has been taken on this as yet.

It is learnt from Mr Maharathi Adhikari, superintendent of Police, East Midnapur that three months ago, Raja Mukherjee who was posted at the Police Beat House, Chandrakona Road, East Midnapur (attached to the Tamluk PS) was suspended from his service due to dereliction of duty. Mr Adhikari who spoke to MASUM admitted that SI Raja was a very corrupt man and regularly resorted to bribery.

The AHRC urges the Government of West Bengal to immediately look into this case and order a full impartial investigation into this incident. Urgent action must be taken against the perpetrator and until the inquiry is complete, he should be suspended from his duty. The victim should also be given sufficient compensation. We also urge the Government of India to seriously take up the issue of child labour and implement the laws more stringently so that child exploitation is correctly checked.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the Minister of Home Affairs of India and urge him to order a thorough and independent inquiry into this incident so that appropriate action is taken against the concerned police officer.

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