RIGHTS-INDIA: Rape Case Pits Women’s Groups against Police

By Sujoy Dhar Reprint | | Print |

Sujoy Dhar

KOLKATA, India, May 24 2001 (IPS) - Tears stream down the face of the deaf-mute 17-year-old as she gestures fervently to what she went through eight months ago, inside the dark steely mass of a mobile prison van on the streets of this eastern Indian metropolis.

But while she was all alone to fend for herself then, today Gungi (not her real name) can count on the support of women’s groups here in Kolkata.

They have not only gone out in the streets in protest against what was done to her, but are also seeing to it that her case would have a fighting chance in court.

After all, the frail Gungi — all 1.37 metres of her — is up against the police authorities of Kolkata.

Through gestures, she has repeatedly described how, while inside the van that was taking her back to jail after a hearing in court, two mustachioed men in uniform tore her clothes apart, gagged her strained screams and then forced themselves on her.

Just last week, Gungi gave birth to a baby girl.

When Gungi’s story first surfaced in the press, the police had tried to play it down, resorting to put her character in question and calling her a “sexual pervert”. They also refused to acknowledge that a crime had taken place.

But now, in a virtual standoff with the Kolkata police administration, a coalition of about 45 women’s rights groups under the banner of Maitree (Friendship) has made the police top brass sit up and take cognizance of the human rights violations allegedly being done by some members of the force.

In addition, there is now a fresh inquiry on this particular case.

As it is, Gungi’s story has made many take note that West Bengal, the state to which this metropolis belongs, has had an inglorious record of atrocities on women in police custody since 1977, both during the rule of the Congress party and also under the Communist government that rules today.

Among those that received much publicity was 1996 rape of a minor inside Ultadanga police station in the city.

Earlier cases include the rape of a mute girl in 1985 in Howrah district, and of a professor in her own residence in 1988.

In 1993, six policemen were also accused of raping a pavement dweller inside the Phoolbagan police station while an 11-year-old was also apparently raped and murdered by a constable in the North Dinajpur district.

For Gungi, the nightmare began after the police slapped a petty theft case against her last Sep. 6 after she was found wandering aimlessly in the city.

Speech and hearing impaired and also mentally impaired to some extent, the girl had showed no fright at first when she was put behind the bars in the city’s Presidency Jail.

Police marked her down as a 19-year-old, but her baptism certificate later showed that she was 16 at the time of arrest.

“She had wandered twice earlier too and had lost her way,” recalls Gungi’s father, who lives in a city slum. “We brought her back after a search. But this time the police got her and put her in prison in a false case.”

Then came the day, Sep. 19, that she was brought to court for the hearing on her case.

When Gungi came back to the jail, Rajashri Dasgupta of the women’s group Sachetanata (Consciousness) says that the jail staff on duty noticed how the girl’s clothes were tattered. Gungi was also weeping inconsolably.

The girl later apparently showed her clothes and her body to the other inmates, who then raised a hue and cry over what had happened to her. This prompted the prison doctor to examine her.

The jail superintendent then filed a complaint the following day at the Alipore Police Station. It was from this complaint, and from police insiders, that reporters covering the jail and police beats got wind of Gungi’s tale.

Dasgupta also recounts that after the report came out, “a tussle followed between the jail authorities and the police with the later trying to pass the buck on the former and protect their colleagues and the reputation of the police force”.

As the police continued to deny that Gungi had been raped, women’s groups under Maitree took up the case. In the first week of March, a public interest litigation was filed in behalf of Gungi, demanding compensation and medical support for her.

This led to an order by the High Court for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to take up the investigation.

But it took Maitree a few more weeks to find Gungi, who had been released from jail by then. When they finally found her, she was already more than six months pregnant.

Says Dasgupta: “If she were not pregnant, the smear campaign against the girl would have succeeded and another rape in custody would have been hushed up.”

“We were initially promised that special attention will be given to this case and all support will be extended to the minor girl,” Maitree spokesperson Shampa Sengupta also recalls.

“We sent representation to police top brass and were given assurance of justice,” she says. “But later we were informed repeatedly that the complaint was baseless and the girl’s character was put to question again and again.”

Aside from arranging Gungi’s legal fight, Maitree was able to secure free hospital treatment for her as well as security for her. It has also been organising streetcorner meetings and keeping up pressure on the police to ensure a fair investigation.

Since the CID began working on the case, the Kolkata police administration has kept silent on the case. Meanwhile, CID investigating officer V V Thambi, says of Gungi, “She has no motivation to accuse someone falsely of rape.”