Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 27.07.13
Gang-raped Dalit girl commits suicide in Ghaziabad- NYDaily News
Of every 100 held in Haryana for crime against Dalits, 92 walk free- The Indian Express
Victim hasn't been to school for a month, accused in judicial custody- The Indian Express
Dalit girl goes missing, family alleges kidnapping- Business Standard
Cabinet rank for Pillai kicks up another row- The New Indian Express
Harassment by officials decried- The Hindu
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0
Habeas corpus plea of Divya's mother dismissed- Deccan Herald
NYDaily News
Gang-raped Dalit girl commits suicide in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, July 26 — A minor Dalit girl, allegedly gang-raped by four people earlier this week, committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in Farid Nagar town of Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, police said Friday.
The 10th standard student committed suicide Thursday morning at her relative's house where the family had taken shelter, a police officer said.
According to the victim's father, she was depressed over the mounting pressure on the family to arrive at a compromise with the accused. He also accused police of arresting only one of the four accused in the case.
"We had to leave our village as police arrested only one person involved in the crime while the other three were allowed to roam free," he said.
He also alleged that a Samajwadi Party legislator has been protecting the accused.
"They are being protected by the local Samajwadi Party MLA. They were pressurizing us for a compromise. Even after shifting to my sister's house in Farid Nagar, the pressure continued," he added.
Terming the incident a "very sensitive matter", Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh Yadav said: "I am going to visit the police station where the case was registered and get all the details related to it."
According to the victim's complaint, she was abducted from her house in Galand village under Masuri police station of Ghaziabad and gang-raped by four people Monday night. She was later dumped by the accused, police said.
The Indian Express
Of every 100 held in Haryana for crime against Dalits, 92 walk free
For a state infamous for caste-based crime, Haryana has a lot a of catching up to do so far as getting perpetrators of such atrocities, especially against the Dalit community, are concerned.
Sample this: Out of every 100 people accused of or arrested on chargs of committing crimes against the Dalits, more than 92 walk free after the court trials. This translates into a conviction rate of merely 7.9 per cent.
The Supreme Court reprimand to Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government while hearing a matter relating to rehabilitation of the members of the Dalit community who had to leave Mirchpur village in Hisar doesn't come as a surprise then.
Violence had broken out in the village following the killing of 70-year-old Dalit Tara Chand and his teenaged daughter Suman on April 21, 2010. The apex court asked the Haryana to inform it about the status of implementation of laws relating to prevention of atrocities against the Dalits in the state.
According to the figures available with the National Crime Records Bureau for the year 2012, Haryana figures in the last seven states with the poor conviction rate in crimes against Dalits. The highest conviction rate in such crimes was recorded by Sikkim (66.7 per cent), followed by 54.5 per cent in Uttarakhand.
Even Uttar Pradesh, also infamous for caste and community related crime incidents, recorded 51.4 per cent conviction rate in crimes against Dalits. It is followed by Rajasthan (41 per cent), Delhi (35.7 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (35.3 pert cent) and Chhattisgarh (31.1 per cent). The country's overall average conviction rate in crimes against Dalits is 23.9 per cent.
Last year, 782 cases (including those pending from previous years) pertaining to crimes against Dalits were listed for hearing in Haryana courts. Of the total accused in cases, only 24 were convicted, while 278 were acquitted or discharged from the cases registered against them.
Haryana Police officers, however, maintain that despite their best efforts, the witnesses refuse to support the prosecution's case leading to acquittal of many of the accused. "The accused walk free as the complainants and witnesses backtrack from their original statements. The out of the court settlements take place and both the sides call it a truce leading to most of the acquittals. The police has been doing its job by arresting all those allegedly involved", one of the senior police officers said.
Incidentally, like Haryana, there are some other states too, which have registered a shoddy conviction rate. These include Gujarat (7.8 per cent), Assam (5.4 per cent), Karnataka (4.8 per cent), Kerala (4.1 per cent), Maharashtra (5.4 per cent), Odisha (6.3 per cent) and West Bengal (6.3 per cent). The Union Territory of Puducherry is having the worst conviction rate in crimes against Dalits at 3.1 per cent.
In the last one year, there had been a spate of crimes against Dalits in Haryana, including gangrapes of minor girls, murders and attacks on colonies forcing the community members to migrate out of their villages.
Even the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had taken cognisance of several such cases and took the state government to task.
The Indian Express
Victim hasn't been to school for a month, accused in judicial custody
The 15-year-old mentally challenged Dalit girl, who was allegedly gangraped by two of her teachers in Bhiwani, has not been attending school for the last one month. The girl, a Class IX student, was allegedly raped for over six months. To cover up their crime, the two school teachers also allegedly got her aborted with the help of two local nurses.
The incident, which came to light when the girl developed some post-abortion medical complications, has sparked off a protest at Dudhwa village Bhiwani's Charkhi Dadri, with the villagers demanding transfer of all teachers of the government school.
The police have arrested the two teachers — a JBT and a PT teacher. They were produced before the court on Thursday, which sent them to judicial custody.
The identities of the two nurses accused in the case is yet to be ascertained.
According to the villagers, the victim's father had stopped sending her to school about a month ago, when he learnt that the girl had developed some medical problem. She was taken to a doctor, where the parents learnt that the girl had undergone an abortion. When asked, she narrated the entire incident to her parents.
Following this, the two accused also reportedly got in touch with the girl's parents and threatened the family not to make the incident public.
"It is inhuman on part of the teachers to commit such a heinous crime with a child. The girl being mentally challenged, it is a double trauma for her and the family. Her father works as a labourer and has two other children. The family had initially chosen to keep quiet to avoid humiliation, but when we learnt about the incident, we asked the police to take action," village Sarpanch Ramesh said.
He added: "One can imagine how a poor labourer arranges money to send his daughter to school. The victim's siblings are also reluctant to going to school.
The village stands united with the victim's family and we will ensure that both the accused get the most severe punishment."
On Wednesday, the girl was medically examined and provided counselling by a woman advocate.
Her statements were also got recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC. "Since the victim belongs to the Dalit community, we have also booked the accused under Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A DSP-rank officer is heading the investigation now," Sub-Inspector Dalbir Singh, incharge of Adampur police post, said.
Business Standard
Dalit girl goes missing, family alleges kidnapping
A 15-year-old dalit girl went missing from her home in Chughe Basti area here, with her family members alleging that she was abducted by a youth who wanted to marry her.
Victim's father said the teenager was found missing this morning when the family members woke up, police said.
In his FIR, the father accused a youth and his three family members of the same locality of being involved in his daughter's kidnapping, police said.
Search for the missing girl is on and a manhunt has been launched to nab the four accused who are absconding, police said.
The New Indian Express
Cabinet rank for Pillai kicks up another row
By Express News Service - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
26th July 2013 12:33 PM
The granting of Cabinet rank to Forward Communities Welfare Corporation chairman R Balakrishna Pillai has kicked up a row. The SC/ST Advisory Committee headed by SC Welfare and Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar passed a resolution calling the move 'discriminatory' and demanding similar rights to corporations representing SC/ST communities. The resolution was passed at a meeting of the committee here.
K K Shaju, ex-MLA, who moved the resolution, said that while the SC/ST communities were not against the government decision, it should not have been made at the cost of the SC/ST communities. "The government may have political aims, but that should not end in discrimination to the SC/ST communities," he said.
"The Kerala State Backward Communities Development Corporation is one of the largest corporations and the SC/ST Development Corporation is one of the oldest. Their chairpersons do not enjoy Cabinet rank. The Corporation for the forward communities is a new one and it has received a Cabinet rank even before getting basic infrastructure," Shaju said.
He said that the resolution was 'unanimously' supported by the members who included MLAs K Ajith, B Sathyan, Geetha Gopi, Purushan Kadalundi and V Sasi.
Minister A P Anil Kumar was not available for comment. The government decision to gift Pillai with Cabinet rank came after the failed bid to re-induct Kerala Congress (B) representative K B Ganesh Kumar into the Cabinet. Reportedly, the Cabinet rank for the corporation chairman is a one-time grant of status.
The Hindu
Harassment by officials decried
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0
Human Rights Forum For Dalit Liberation, Karnataka, has appealed to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to direct forest officials not to harass tribal communities, Dalits and small farmers. State forum convenor Basavaraj Kowtal said lakhs of families depend on such land for their livelihood.
"Many such farmers have 'pahani' and C forms and even paying taxes. Ignoring all these factors, officials are pushing out the families in the name of eviction," he said. He alleged that joint surveys conducted by the Forest and Revenue Departments have failed to safeguard the interests of Dalits and tribal communities.
Deccan Herald
Habeas corpus plea of Divya's mother dismissed
Chennai: The Madras high court dismissed on Friday as withdrawn the habeas corpus petition filed by Thenmozhi, mother of N. Divya, wife of the deceased Dalit youth Ilavarasan.
A division bench, comprising justices M. Jaichandran and M.M. Sundresh, said it went without saying that it would be open to the parties concerned to seek their relief, if any, before the appropriate authority or forum, if so advised, in the manner known to law.
The bench said in view of the submissions made by the counsel for the petitioner and Ilavarasan, the court was of the considered view that the petitioner cannot be denied permission for withdrawal of the habeas corpus petition, especially, in view of the fact that the detenue, Divya, had indicated she would like to be with her mother.
She had stated that she had gone to see her mother voluntarily, and that she was going along with her mother willingly, without any undue influence being cast on her by anyone. It was also not in dispute that she was a major, the bench added.
The bench said it was also noted that Ilavarasan had died on July 4, 2013 during the pendency of the present habeas corpus petition.
Further, it was not for this court to conduct an elaborate and detailed enquiry into the various circumstances that had culminated in the death of Nagarajan, the father of Divya, and in respect of the unfortunate demise of her husband Ilavarasan, in the present proceedings.
It was for the authorities to cause an enquiry to find out the truth behind the death of Nagarajan and Ilavarasan and in respect of the other related incidents.
The court observed that it was clear that it would have only a limited jurisdiction while dealing with the present habeas corpus petition, especially in view of the fact that the petitioner was inclined to withdraw it.
Therefore, it was not open to this court to pass elaborate or detailed orders in the present petition as prayed for by the counsel appearing for Ilavarasan.
News Monitor by Girish Pant
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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