Dalit girl & family thrown out of life, Urban-Caste Mob Penalty

24Jun09

Not only rural areas are infested with caste virus,  but urbane India is not far behind. Travel around Pune , come to Pimpari-Chichawad, the hub of economic activity in the western region, you will see caste ghettos and lavishly spread concrete jungle.  Economy grows at its pace but its no way fascinating to some section of human kind in 21st Century!

Not in 70’s but here in 2009, a dalit girl, 24, was brutally assaulted by castiest goons. Why?  Because she dared to erect her own House in front of the upper caste home. Unlawful bashing is the gift  she got, which is order of the day to migrant lower caste populace who cannot voice their pain.

The Scene:
Educated  Rekha along with mother, Kalpana, father Sambhaji Waghmare, 3 brothers namely- Vinod, Sunil and Suresh relocated to Tapkir Nagar, Kalewadi in Pimpari-Chinchawad.  She bought the plot from hard earned money and duly started constructing a pakka-2-room-kitchen-house.  Adjacent was Mr Suresh Supekar,an upper caste household.  While Rekha purchased the plot from lower caste, Supekars went from bad to ugly and constantly err about ‘rotten people have gone and the *putrefied people have come’.  Further abuses, vulgar remarks, obscene gestures were regular. Even after lodging complaint with police nothing seemed to happen. Thanks to biased intervention of local corporator of Pimpari-Chinchawad Corporation ! On 5th April, height of torture made Waghmare to reach police station again , shocked, police did not register the case  itself ( due to pressure from same politicians).

On the fateful day of 13th May at around 7:30 P.M., while Rekha was returning after taking M.A.(English) examination, near Sant Dhyaneshwar garden, close to Ramkrishna More college, she was approached by six men on bikes, two were known faces i.e. Tushar Supekar and Sumit Supekar. One of them asked her name. When she answered to which Sumit Supekar said, “This ! Mahar’s girl is arrogant. We will get her arrogance out.” Then suddenly, one of them hit her on forehead. Next, they held her tightly and clasped her mouth with their hands. They had a bottle of beer in their hands. Tushar and Sumit poured beer in her mouth and sprinkled all over body. Then they scratched her skin on right arm, abdomen and chest by the brocken bottle neck.  They were about to hit her on the head by the bottle of beer but her quick movment saved her.  Then, they tore her clothes .  They blasted hard punches on her lips, forehead and all over, bleeding made her undigestable pain. They kicked her hard in  abdomen and thrown her bare on the streets and ran away on bikes. The place, though not very crowded, had a handful of people who saw the incidence, but nobody dared to come forward to save her. She headed to police station in the same condition. She was feeling shameful to approach anyone on the way due to her torn clothes. But a boy of sixteen saw her in that state and enquired her about the cause of her condition which she explained him. The boy dropped her to Yeshvantrao Chavvan Memorial Hospital and informed her brother over the phone. Her brother reached the place. She took the treatment and then they straightway went to NigadiPolice Station at about 1 A.M. The police did not file the F.I.R.  But merely registered  it as a Non-cognisable offence.  Police letf no stone unturned in demoralising her , some unttered ‘couples roam freely at night, any untoward incident happens, they complaint’. But when she told that the companion was her brother, he kept quiet.  Disillusioned with police, they both returned home.

Pic 01: Head Injuries

 

Pic 02: Marks on legs by broken bottle

Pic 03: Lips, part of body smashed

On 15th May, 7 PM Rekha and her cousin, Sachin Kamble, went again to NigadiPoliceStation to lodge F.I.R. against the culprits. But the police did not write F.I.R. properly. They omitted to write the exact number of assailants and did not register the charges u/s 3(1)(xi) of Atrocity Act which is concerned with outraging the modesty of a dalit women. They completely messed up with F.I.R. (99% times Police stations mess up with FIR if its Caste Atrocity). The victim not knowing the intricacies of legal matter, returned home. On 18th May, the police arrested Tushar and Sumit Supekar but released them on bail next day.

 On the same day, in another incidence, she was again abused and manhandled by Supekars. She reported the matter to police , but with no effect.

Further Civil response:
A fact finding team comprising delegates from NCDHR, Alliance for Dalits and Manuski visited victim and unearthed the fact of the matter. They also met local police staff.  After much  request, the police aggred to accept supplementary statements of 13thMay; but did not register supplementary F.I.R. The fact finding team found signature of complainant on previous F.I.R. missing.  However they did not question the police staff lest they would not co-operate later.

On 29th May only police registered F.I.R. under Atrocity Act of 18th May incidence -when Supekars assaulted Rekha in her home.  Strange, the statement of the victim was recorded on 20th May. Police is in jeopardy as criminal procedure code demands  ‘statements must be recorded before F.I.R. gets registered’. The police are now pressurising the victim to change the date of statement to 29th May.

The present status of the case is that s till no authentic F.I.R. is registered, there is whole discrepancy in recording statements on 18th May.  The accused are roaming free  with no fear of law.

Caste Mob Panalty:
And to add to the democratic fury now the ghastly caste mob was in action, indicating how safe India for Dalits. On 11th June,10 P.M., when victim, Rekha, went out to throw the garbage in the public dustbin, she was confronted by a mob of 40 including upper caste women. She was abused and slapped. When her brother heard the cry, he went to help his sister, but he was beaten up mercilessly till he fainted. He was then admitted to Sasson Hospital in Pune. He was so severly beaten that a tube had to be inserted into his abdomen to drain out the blood in his stomach.

The police did not register this case under Atrocity Act instead arrested the supporters of Waghmares.  There is  complete apathy of  police administration and dalit organisations feel  helpless  fighting for justice. Democratic deficit, what else?

(*Derogatory term used for dalits)

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