Aarefa Johari - Chhattisgarh's security forces accused of large-scale sexual violence yet again
In an alarming repeat of the large-scale sexual violence and
looting reported from Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district three months ago,
villagers from the same region have alleged that they were raped, beaten,
threatened and robbed by state security forces for four days last week.
According to the testimonies of 16 women from Nendra, a
village in Bijapur’s Basaguda block, large numbers of police and security
personnel entered their village on January 11 and forcibly stayed in their
homes up till January 14. During this time, the personnel allegedly raped and
gang-raped more than a dozen women, stripped, molested and assaulted several
more and also looted their food, money and other belongings.
For almost a week after the alleged atrocities, no First
Information Report was filed at the local police station despite the women
giving detailed testimonies to the sub-divisional magistrate on January 18 and
19. An FIR was finally lodged against the state security forces on Thursday
night, after women’s rights groups appealed to the district collector and the
local media began to carry reports of the allegations.
“The pattern of violence at Nendra is almost the same as the
kind recorded at Pedagellur just three months ago,” said Shivani Taneja, a
member of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression, a civil society
group that conducted a fact-finding investigation into the Nendra incidents
along with the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation and other
researchers.
From October 19-24, 2015, security personnel had allegedly
occupied Pedagellur – a village in the same Basaguda block – and raped three
women, molested several and looted people’s homes. The severity of the
allegations and the pressure from activists eventually forced the district
collector to file and FIR and order a rare
investigation of security forces in Chhattisgarh. Now, with the fresh testimonies of the women of Nendra,
women’s rights groups have been left wondering if uniformed personnel in the
Naxal-affected region are getting away with many more abuses of power than
those that are reported.
‘Many were beaten, many were raped’
On January 18, a group of 16 affected women from Nendra
travelled to the police station in the district headquarters to record their
statements, but, says Taneja, the police refused to file an FIR. The women –
some accompanied by young children – spent four days at the police station
offering detailed oral testimonies, but were told that official complaints
could not be filed in the absence of the superintendent of police.
The women also submitted several letters to the police
station, appealing for an FIR to be filed. The letters, written in Hindi,
describe the sexual violence faced by the villagers in words chillingly similar
to those used by the survivors of the Pedagellur atrocities:
“The police and security forces came to our village on
January 11 and till January 14, stayed in different parts of the village.
During this time, many women were beaten, many were raped, their breasts were
pressed, different parts of their bodies were touched, their clothes were torn,
they were stripped and vulgar comments were made about their bodies, like
‘Tumhari gaand mein mirchi daalenge, usey chaaku se kaat denge’ (We will stuff
chillies up your anus and cut it with a knife).... They forced themselves in
many people’s homes and cooked there, ate there, slept there and even told
women to sleep with them.”
The letters provide the names of at least 12 women who were
raped and seven who were beaten, but add that there were more women not on the
list who also faced various forms of sexual assault at the hands of the police
and “force wale” (a reference to the Central Reserve Police Force
and other security forces posted across Chhattisgarh). The sexual abuse was accompanied by rampant looting of all
kinds of food rations, poultry and goats and hard-earned savings from people’s
homes, allege the women:
“From Karam Ayati’s house they took Rs 10,000 and a gold
chain; from Kavasi Unga’s house they took Rs 5,000; from other houses too, they
took money. During this month we usually go to Andhra to pluck chilli so we
keep a lot of ration, chicken, goats, etc at home to take with us, but the
forces and the police have either taken away or eaten a lot of our rations
which has been a huge loss for us.”
The women claimed they were chased and beaten with sticks if
they tried to protest against any of this, and were repeatedly threatened with
death. They also allegedly blamed the village men – most of whom were not in
the village at the time – of being Naxalites. “When the police and force arrived, the men in the village
got frightened at the sound of the firing and ran out of the village,” says one
of the letters Nendra’s women submitted to the police. “They returned after the
forces left, but around nine of them have still not returned. We are very
worried about them.”
Despite several attempts, Scroll.in was
unable to reach the superintendent of police or any other police official in
the area.
Independent authority
On January 20, after almost a week of being rebuffed by the
police station, the 16 women and various activists supporting them wrote an
appeal to district collector. The letter emphasised that the allegations made
by the women were of cognizable offences, making it mandatory by law to file an
FIR in such cases.
Now that the FIR has finally been filed, activists like
Taneja will focus on ensuring that necessary investigations are carried out in
the case. “We need investigation in a way where women feel secure,”
said Taneja, who believes the investigation must be conducted by an independent
authority, given that the accused are part of the police and security forces.
“We are also struck by the frequency and scale of sexual and physical violence
and loot by state actors in these areas. The government needs to take strong
steps to stop this from recurring while ensuring justice for the affected.”
