Outlaw
Barricading the village of a grieving family shows how insecure the UP government is, and how compromised its police.
: Editorial | Updated: October 3, 2020 8:03:08 am
The Hathras case is a test for the UP Police, and also for the Yogi Adityanath government that it reports to.
What makes a powerful government so insecure that it must build a wall of policemen to barricade from public view — and cut off access to — a village in which a traumatised Dalit family grieves the death of a 19-year-old daughter brutalised by upper caste men? That question is answered in the heavy-handedness of the Uttar Pradesh government of Yogi Adityanath as it clumsily tries to brush, under countless carpets, its callousness and ineptitude. The crime in Hathras was heinous. But what has followed in its wake, the hurried cremation by the police in the dark, the denial of the family's right to perform the last rites, followed by boorish police action to prevent anyone, including Opposition leaders of the Congress and TMC, from reaching the young woman's family, has added up to a sordid spectacle that should deeply embarrass the Yogi Adityanath regime in UP. Reassuringly, the court has stepped in to restore a semblance of civility, uphold the law. Taking suo motu cognisance of incidents that have "shocked our conscience", and calling it a matter of "immense public importance and public interest", the Allahabad High Court has promised to look into allegations of "violation of the basic human and fundamental rights not only of the deceased victim but also of her family members".
It remains to be seen if the court's rightful outrage, and mounting public indignation, are successful in making a dent in a wider culture of impunity that appears to be deepening in UP. The police's grave missteps in Hathras have been preceded by a series of warning signals. The number of encounters grows in the state — 115 at last count — even as there is no action against any policeman for the extrajudicial killings. They receive political sanction, in fact, from the ruling party. Two police officials have been chargesheeted in the Vikas Dubey case — featuring the gangster in whose rise and death the police evidently played a dubious role. Three police officials stand chargesheeted by the CBI in the Unnao rape case of 2017. The lines between those whose responsibility it is to uphold the law and those who break it have been blurring dangerously in UP. Here, the police routinely invites allegations of conducting itself as an arm of the ruling party, not the state. And of standing with the powerful and targeting the vulnerable who most need protection of the law — those who belong to a lower caste or class, a minority religion, or take a dissenting political position.
The Hathras case is a test for the UP Police, and also for the Yogi Adityanath government that it reports to. All of the government's determined efforts to project and promote UP as a well governed state will amount to naught if it is unable to send out a simple message — that it is fully committed to upholding the law and bringing to book those who think they can brutalise a woman and get away with it.
UP govt adopting extreme posture: Sharad Pawar on Rahul Gandhi being manhandled by police
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Raut, without naming actor Kangana Ranaut, said that while there is an outrage over the demolition of an illegal office at an actor's house in Mumbai, nobody is allowed to ask questions when a Dalit girl is gangraped and murdered.
By: Express News Service | Mumbai, Pune | October 3, 2020 1:09:39 am
Candlelight vigil organised by Congress, in Mumbai on Friday. (Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)
Criticising the Uttar Pradesh Police over its manhandling of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, allies NCP and Shiv Sena on Friday took on the Yogi Aadityanath government.
In Pune, NCP chief Sharad Pawar told mediapersons, "The UP government is adopting an extreme posture. They have no value for law… They should have allowed Rahul Gandhi to go to Hathras. Rahul and Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) had gone there while maintaining peace. They wanted to meet the victim's family. Whatever happened with them was not appropriate."
Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka were prevented on Thursday from going to the village of the Hathras Dalit teenager, who died after she was brutally assaulted and allegedly gangraped by upper caste men. Their cavalcade was stopped en route where there was a scuffle with the UP Police, in which Rahul fell to the ground.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the behaviour meted out to Rahul was akin to the "gangrape of democracy". "Rahul Gandhi is Indira Gandhi's grandson. He is Rajiv Gandhi's son also. Both have sacrificed their lives for this country. You may disagree with Rahul Gandhi's politics but what happened in UP, where a Dalit girl was raped and murdered and a political leader is going to meet the family, is unacceptable. The way he was stopped is unacceptable. His collar was caught and he was pushed to the ground… this is like the gangrape of democracy," he told mediapersons.
Raut, without naming actor Kangana Ranaut, said that while there is an outrage over the demolition of an illegal office at an actor's house in Mumbai, nobody is allowed to ask questions when a Dalit girl is gangraped and murdered.
Meanwhile, NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar described the murder of the teen as a shame on humanity. "The incident in Uttar Pradesh is a shame on humanity. It is being condemned by everyone. There are no words to describe such kind of horrific incidents," Ajit said in Pune.
He added that such incidents against women and those from the backward communities raise many issues. "There is a discussion after such an incident and again everyone goes back to work. Efforts should be made to ensure that such incidents do not take place. There should be laws that scare criminals from committing such crimes. The Union government needs to bring in strict laws," Ajit said.
On Rahul and Priyanka being stopped from meeting the victim's family, he said, "Any political or social leader or those representing NGOs have the right to meet the family."
Hathras case: It is our collective dignity and decency that is erased forever
Hathras is part of a larger story. It's not just a woman who was brutalised — spine of Indian state is broken.
Written by Menaka Guruswamy | Updated: October 3, 2020 8:51:44 am
During a candle light march by the Mumbai Congress unit to protest the Hathras case on September 2, 2020. (Express Photo: Ganesh Shirsekar)
On September 14, 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman goes to work in the fields, close to her home, in the Hathras district of western Uttar Pradesh. Let us call this young woman — India. She lived with her family across the street from their upper caste Thakur neighbours in this bustling town, that is 200 kilometres from Delhi.
As Newslaundry reports, India's mother found her daughter's body in the part of the fields owned by the Thakur neighbours. She is quoted as saying, "My daughter was lying naked with her tongue protruding from her mouth. Her eyes were bulging out and she was bleeding from her mouth, her neck and there was blood near her eyes. I also noticed bleeding from her vagina. I quickly covered her with the pallu of my saree and started screaming."
The law is clear on how the state must respond. At this point, a First Information Report (FIR) must be immediately lodged, and if the victim needs hospitalisation then the requirements of a medico-legal case such as this, the preservation of clothing, the recording of injuries, can be done at the hospital. A statement as to the events, under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, of the survivor in the presence of a magistrate, must be ensured by the police. It is expected that the police arrange for the magistrate to be taken to the hospital. Finally, if the survivor of the rape should pass away, then the body must be handed over to her family, after post-mortem analysis. Now let us examine what happened to India and her family.
Post the assault, India was taken to the Champa police station, and from there to the hospital while her brother stayed back to register an FIR. At the hospital, despite the trauma on September 21 and 22, she clearly named her upper caste neighbours and their friends as her assaulters. Eventually, belatedly — over two weeks after the assault — India was transferred to Safdarjung Medical Hospital in Delhi, where she died. A magistrate came to the hospital in Aligarh to record her statement but it is unclear whether they preserved sufficient evidence for a case such as this.
What followed subsequently, tells you even more about the state of Uttar Pradesh police and those they answer to; by chain of direct command, to the Home Minister of the state — that portfolio is held by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. After her death in Delhi, India's body was whisked away, and despite the fierce protests of her family, was cremated around 2:30 am/3:00 am by the police. The journalist Tanushree Pandey in her first-person account, captures the police telling India's family that mistakes have been made (galtiya hui hai) but it is time to "move on", and family members locked themselves in their home in fear while police proceeded to cremate India. The police then tried to prevent the press from taking any pictures or recording their actions.
Meanwhile, on October 1, the Additional Director General of Police, Prashant Kumar, apparently relying on the FSL, said that India's cause of death was injury to the spinal cord, no sperm was found and no rape occurred. The officer would do well to note Section 166 A of the Penal Code that makes it a punishable offence for the police not to register a rape.
That the body was cremated in a hurry makes it easier for him to spin this story. Reports indicate that the FSL samples were taken days after the events, making it impossible for bodily fluids like sperm to be found. However, the amendments to our rape law mandate that only penetration is required to establish rape or gang rape, and not presence of sperm. Further, the nature of the injuries, repeated statements by India, make the gang rape clear.
The Allahabad High Court, on October 1, 2020, shaken by the course of events, has taken suo motu cognisance of the events — in Re: Right to decent and dignified last rites/cremation. The judges point to case law that mandates that the right to dignity and fair treatment is available to all in life and death. A decade ago, they had declared that the right to life and dignity includes the right of a deceased to have her body treated with respect, subject to her tradition, culture and religion practised. The next date of hearing before the High Court is October 12, meaning that India's family must withstand the pressure being mounted on them to change their story.
Opinion | Brutality of Hathras crime, brazen police abdication, have shaken and shamed us all
The historical reality of our country is that events like the gangrape of India have been routine. In pre-constitutional feudal India, there was socially sanctioned control of the upper castes on the labour, bodies and aspirations of lower castes, especially Dalits. Our Constitution, recognising the systemic degradation of lower caste persons, mandated prohibition on caste and sex based discrimination. It also made reparations by providing for reservation in educational institutions, political constituencies and public employment for members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
But India's case shows that no constitution has any meaning if those tasked with enforcing it have aligned themselves to an unconstitutional caste-based code of loyalty. As Cynthia Stephen, a Dalit activist and writer, asks, "Why on earth was her body torn from the family and burnt in the dark somewhere like it's a piece of trash? In Bangalore our garbage trucks take the solid waste outside the city and incinerate it in an open field. This is something like that, no dignity even in death."
India's violation is part of a larger story of our country. It is not just India's spine that was broken — it is the spine of the Indian state and the police that is fractured. It is not just India that was brutalised, it is each and every woman who is raped and silenced that screams out loudly. In the disregard of India's body even in death, it is our collective dignity and decency that is erased forever. Shame on all of us.
This article first appeared in the print edition on October 3, 2020 under the title 'The gangrape'. The writer is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India.
યોગી આદીત્યનાથની યુપી સરકારે દેશની લોકશાહીની કરોડરજ્જુ કાયમ માટે તોડી નાંખી છે.–
માનેકા ગુરૂસ્વામી ( સિનીયર એડવોકેટ સુપ્રીમ કોર્ટ ઓફ ઇંડીયા.)
ચાલો! આપણે તેનું નામ ભારતી ( ઇંડીયા) રાખીશું.કારણકે હજુ સુધી તેણીનું નામ આપણને મલ્યું નથી. તા. ૧૪મી સપ્ટેમ્બરના રોજ સવારે પોતાના ઘરની પાસે આવેલા ઠાકુરના ખેતરમાં મજુરી કરવા જાય છે.તેણીનું ગામ હથરસ પશ્રીમ ઉત્તરપ્રદેશના જીલ્લામાં આવેલું છે.તેની માતાએ આપેલા રીપોર્ટ પ્રમાણે પેલા પડોશી ઠાકુરના ખેતરમાં ભારતીનું શરીર નગ્ન અવસ્થામાં પડયું હતું. તેણીના મોઢાંમાંથી જીભ બહાર નીકળી ગઇ હતી. તેણીના આંખોના ડોળા બહાર નીકળીને સુજી ગયા હતા. તેણીના મોંઢામાંથી લોહી નીકળીને ગરદન, આંખો અને મોઢાપર ફેલાઇ ગયેલું હતું. તેણીની યોનીના ભાગમાંથી પણ લોહી નીકળું હતું. તેણીનું નગ્ન શરીર મારી સાડીના પાલવથી ઢાંકી દીધું. પછી ખુબજ મોટે મોટેથી મેં ચીસો પાડવા માંડી.
મારા મત પ્રમાણે ઉપરની સ્થીતીમાં પોલીસે એફ આઇ આર દાખલ કરી, ઇજા પામેલાની સ્થીતી ગંભીર જોતાં તેણીને હોસ્પીટલમાં મોકલી આપવી જોઇએ, મેજીસ્ટ્રેટને દર્દીનું સ્ટેટમેંટ રેકોર્ડ કરવા બોલાવી લેવા જોઇએ. બળાત્કારનો ભોગ બનેલ સ્રી ગુજરી જાયતો તેણીનું પોસ્ટમોર્ટમ કરી, તેણીની લાશ તેના કુટુંબીજન ને બોલાવીને અંતીમ સંસ્કાર માટે સોંપી દેવી જોઇએ.
યોગી આદીત્યનાથની પોલીસે શું કર્યું તે જોઇએ.
(૧) ભારતી ઉપર થયેલા બળાત્કાર પછી ઘણા દિવસો બાદ તેની યોનીના પ્રવાહીના નમુના લેવામાં આવ્યા. જેથી હવે રાજ્યના પોલિસ વડા ઉંચે અવાજે ગોરવ સાથે જાહેર કરે છે કે તેણીના પર બળાત્કાર થયો નથી. માટે હવે એફ આઇ આરમાં કઇ કલમો આવશે તે આપણે વિચારી લેવાનું ! પણ ખોટું કરનારાને એ ખબર નથી કે સુપ્રીમ કોર્ટે બળાત્કારના કેસમાં યોનીમાં બળજબરી થી પ્રવેશ ( Penetration)ને જ ગેરકાયદેસર કૃત્ય ગણેલું છે.
(૨) તા. ૩–૧૦– ૨૦ના ઇ. એકસપ્રેસના તંત્રી લેખમાં લખ્યુ છે કે " The crime in Hathras was Heinous." " હથરસમાં કરવામાં આવેલું ગુનાહિત કૃત્ય ભયાનક અને ઘૃણાસ્પદ હતું."
(૩) યુપીની અલ્હાબાદ હાઇકોર્ટે જાતે સદર ગુનાની ગંભીરતા લઇને , પોતે ફરીયાદી બની ( Suo Motu Conisance) જાહેર કર્યું કે દેશના દરેક નાગરીકને ગૌરવભેર અને સભ્યસમાજના સભ્ય તરીકે જીવવાનો મુળભુત અધિકાર છે. મૃતવ્યક્તીના કુટુંબીજનને પણ તેમના રીતીરીવાજો પ્રમાણે અંતીમવીધી કરવાનો અબાધીત અધિકાર છે. તો આ યોગી સરકારનું પોલીસતંત્ર આ કેસમાં રાત્રે બે વાગ્યે જાણે કોઇ કચરો કે ગારબેજ સળગાવતું હોય તેવી રીતે મૃત્ય દેહને કેવી રીતે કાયદો હાથમાં લઇને સળગાવી શકે ? કોર્ટે સરકારને જવાબ આપવા ૧૨મી ઓકટોબરની તારીખ રાખી છે.
(૪) દેશમાં કાયદાનું શાસન છે. યુપી એક રાજ્ય તરીકે કોઇના બાપની જાગીર નથી. અને યોગી ની નહી જ. તો પછી વિરોધ પક્ષના નેતાઓને ખાસ કરીને રાહુલ ગાંધી અને પ્રિયંકા વાઢરાને કઇ રીતે ભારતીના મા–બાપને મળવા જતા રોકવામાં આવે? શરદ પવાર, એન સી પી. મહારાષ્ટ્ર.
(૫) ભારતમાં યોગી આદીત્યનાથનું યુપી સિવાય બીજુ કોઇ રાજ્ય નથી જ્યાં સૌથી વધારે નાગરીકો પોલીસ એનકાઉન્ટરમાં ( EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING) મારી નાંખવામાં આવ્યા છે. –માનેકા ગુરૂસ્વામી, એડવોકેટ સુપ્રીમ કોર્ટ.
