INDIA: Woman faces death threats and harassment due to her political affiliation, while police remain inactive 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its parter MASUM in West Bengal that ruling party leaders in Rojipur village, Hooghly district, have been repeatedly harassing and severely threatening of a woman, allegedly due to her political affiliation to another party. While she faces death or rape threats and social boycott in the village, the local police, who allegedly do not want to upset ruling party politicians, have not taken any action despite numerous complaints made by the victim. It is alleged that this is not the first time that the victim has been subjected such harassment by these politicians. Due to the severity and nature of the threats, the victim and her family members are suffering psychologically.        

CASE DETAILS:

Ms. Sakina Khatun is a resident of Rojipur village, Dhaniakhali police station, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The local Panchayat (village council) is under the control of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM), which has been the ruling party in West Bengal for the last 30 years.

In June 2006, the village Panchayat leaders excavated a drain around Sakina’s land despite her protesting that this would make it impossible for her to use a tractor to cultivate her land. Despite her formal complaint to the Panchayat, nothing has happened to settle this matter.

On June 9, 2006, Sakina informed the Panchayat and Dhaniakhali police station that she would fill up the drain and on the following day, June 10, she arranged for some labourers to fill in the north side of the drain, which was located inside her land.

However on June 12, three villagers named Amed Ali Mondal, Mohim Mondal and Abusiddik came to Sakina’s house and verbally abused her. Sakina lodged a complaint against them about this incident with the Dhaniakhali police station (General Diary Entry no.: – 521). On June 16, Sakina again lodged another complaint with the same police station against the three concerned men and Rahamat Ali Mondal, reportedly because they planned to re-excavate the drain at the northeast corner of her land. Sakina alleges that although she personally requested the Officer in Charge (OC) of the police station to take action concerning this matter, he did nothing because these men are members of the CPIM.

At around 8:00am on June 25, 2006, some 25-30 people organized by Mahim Mondal, Rahamat Ali, Abusiddik, and Nurul Huda went ahead with the excavation of the drain and also destroyed crops on Sakina’s land. She again lodged a complaint about these further events at the Dhaniakhali police station on June 25 (GDE no: – 071) but has received no response from the police.

As a result of the police inaction, on June 28, 2006, Sakina lodged two cases with the Chinsurah Sub-Divisional Executive Magistrate Court against the men mentioned above (Case no: – MP 417 dated 28/06/06 and MP 411 dated 28/06/06 under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of India). As a result, she was reportedly attacked by Mahim Mondal, Amed Mondal, Abusiddik, Abu Hasan, Nurul Huda, Shaikh Habibar, Nandalal Das, and Abhiram Das, who were armed, when the police handed over the notice of the cases to the accused on July 4, 2006. They allegedly threatened to kill her.

At around 7:00am on July 5, 2006, these men again went to Sakina’s land to continue the excavation of the drain. They also threatened that they would rape Sakina to publicly humiliate her, following which they would kill her. They even threatened to give electric shocks to Sakina’s daughter and to burn Sakina’s house down at night. Furthermore, on July 7, 2006, these alleged perpetrators (village leaders) reportedly made a decision to ostracize Sakina socially from the village.

On July 8, 2006, the Assistant Sub Inspector of the Dhaniakhali police station went to Rojipur to investigate the cases lodged by Sakina (Cases Numbers – MP 411 and MP 417 dated 28/06/06). However, to date he has not taken any serous action regarding the alleged threats or ostracism.

On August 13, 2006, the OC of the Dhaniakhali police called a meeting at the police station between the victim and local village leaders. The OC allegedly took the side of the local leaders. It is reported that when Sakina declined to accept an offer of compromise that was not in her favour, the leaders threatened her and this despite the presence of the police. The Bhaniakhali police also reportedly pressured Sakina to withdraw her cases against the leaders. She was finally forced to sign a compromise paper, which was written by Hassan Mollick, the secretary of local committee of CPIM, at the police station.

It is alleged that Sakina and her family members are currently suffering from psychological distress as the result of the ostracism and the severe threats to which they have been subjected and the lack of protection that they have received from the authorities.

It is alleged that the source of these problems is the fact that Sakina is the member of the BJP political party. In fact, this is not the first time that Sakina has been harassed by CPIM party leaders due to her political affiliation. She had reportedly experienced similar ostracism, which was allegedly organized by the ruling CPIM party leaders in her village, for five years between 1988 and 1993. According to the victim, Dhaniakhali police and other higher district authorities failed to take any serious action with regard to her situation, despite her repeated complaints.

This case exposes the fallibility of the criminal justice system in India. According to the Indian Penal Code socially ostracizing a person is an offense under Section 153 A. This is a serious offence which carries a punishment of imprisonment that may extend to three years or fine. Once a complaint is made to any police station regarding such an offense, the police officer to whom such a complaint is made must investigate the case under Section 156 of the Criminal Procedure Code of India. Alternatively, the complainant, Sakina, in this case, could approach the local magistrate under Section 190 of the same Code, which she did. Upon receipt of a complaint the magistrate may also order similar investigation to be carried out by the police. Either way, the investigating authority is the local police. As evident from the facts of this case, it is the local police that fail to comply with the law and procedure which facilitate miscarriage of justice resulting in failure of rule of law in India.

West Bengal is a state under the rule of the CPI(M) for the last 30 years. However, compared to the available human and capital potential within the state, the development within the state has been limited to a select few, who tow the political lines of the ruling party. Corruption and gross neglect towards weaker sections of the society is rampant in West Bengal and the administration is known for its ineptitude to govern and its deep-rooted corruption. It is alleged that the inaction by the local police in this case is due to the allegiance of the victim to a rival political group that oppose CPI (M) rule in West Bengal.

This case is in violation of Article 26 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which India is a State party. Article 26 states, “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” – (emphasis added).

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant Indian authorities and urge them to intervene immediately into this matter. Please urge them to take strong action to stop the repeated and serious threats and harassments against the victim. Please also urge them to order an impartial and thorough investigation into the complaints filed by the victim and take proper action against any persons found guilty of any of the abuses alleged above, notably the threats and harassment. Please also urge them to ensure the personal integrity and security of the victim and her family.

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