It is very sad that today morning
around 7 am brave heart lady Shama(name changed) died in Kabir Chaura hospital
of Varanasi, India. Yesterday Pandit
Deen Dayal regional hospital donated one unit of blood to her on the
request of PVCHR activist and her brother. Her soul may rest in peace.
In yet another case of the most
barbaric crimes against women, a young girl was put on fire with the intention
to burn her alive in Matakund police
post under Sigra police station in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. The
incident took place around 11 to 12 PM when the accused forcibly entered the
house of Mohammed Ameen and set his daughter Shama (name changed) ablaze by
sprinkling kerosene on her. The girl is battling for her life in a hospital. The
crime was committed by some police informers after the parents of the girl made
complaint against them. The accused police informers have been constantly
making advances in the past few months trying to molest and sexually abuse the young
girl.
Realising the severity of the
crime, The People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights of Varanasi has written
to the MP of Varanasi & Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister
of Uttar Pradesh Shri Akhilesh Yadav, the National Human Rights Commission,
National Commission for Women, and the senior district and police officers urging
them to intervene in the case and form a high-level inquiry team to initial legal
action against all the accused parties. It has also demanded that the victim Shama
(name changed) should be paid a compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs and be provided
adequate treatment facilities and medical care. Police officials found guilty
of not following the due process of law in the case should be tried under
section 166 A of IPC. This heinous crime underscores the urgent need to implement
police reforms and pass the Anti Torture Bill pending in Rajya Sabha and also
highlights the need to ratify the UN
Convention against Torture (UNCAT) by the government of India. A careful
reading of the facts of the events reveals that rule of law is completely
missing and instead it seems that informers at the service of police department
are dictating the law and order in the city. Even the police actions are in
violation of guidelines given by the Supreme Court of India and directions of
the high police officials are not being followed.
The family of the victim has been
complaining about the obscene behaviour of these police informers with their
daughter since 13 June, 2014, but their voice went in vain in front of the
gigantic police hierarchy. Instead of taking any action on their complaint, the
police have been harassing and threatening the family. Tacit support and inaction
on the part of Varanasi police emboldened the morale of the accused who finally
committed the heinous crime.
The incident clearly shows that crime
of sexual abuse of a young girl was being done with the support of Matakund Police
post. This is not an isolated incident in the area. In yet another case in
Lahanga Khurd Lallapur locality under the Sigra police station, a 10 year old minor
boy Babloo ( name changed) working with
a sari cloth merchant Mr. Salauddin was confined in a house for 7 hours and
badly beaten and tortured by the said merchant by falsely accusing him of
stealing Rs. 20 lakhs. This incident
occurred on 31 August 2014 and Mr. Hamid (Babu Lal), father of the minor boy
sent his written complaint by registered post to the local police station
including the higher police officials. On the contrary the Singra police
station filed an FIR against the minor boy and his parents on the complaint by
the sari merchant Salauddin. In the said incident immediate action should have
been taken by the police against Mr. Salauddin under the Child labour
Prohibition Act and Juvenile Justice Act for forcing a minor boy into child
labour and torturing him physically. Similarly in the case of burning of the
young girl, the police department instead of following the due course of law
seems giving full protection to the violators of law.
All the accused in the young girl case were working as
police informers for Matakund police post and they were serving as cooks and
washer men for the police officials of Matakund police post. The victim and her
family had already given their complaint many times against the immoral
conducts of the informers in Matakund police post, Lallapura and Singra police
station. The aggrieved family never got any help from the police and the
victim, Shama(name Changed) unable to put up the behaviour of informers got
frustrated and was finally forced to discontinue her studies in between. Shama
stopped coming out of her home due the constant fear of sexual harassment.
Whenever she dared to came out of her house to buy
household items or to attend the sewing classes, she continuously faced sexual harassment
by the police informers. Her parents repeatedly complained to the police about
this.
The aggrieved family approached the office of People’s
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Varanasi on December 8, 2014 and complained
about the police negligence and inaction in their matter. They also narrated
their painful story. People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) took
their case and informed Senior Superintendent of Police, Varanasi, DGP, Uttar
Pradesh and Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh through a registered post and registered
a complaint about the police negligence in the matter. On the advice of PVCHR
in December 11, 2014 the aggrieved family filed a written complaint in the
office of I G Varanasi zone about the atrocities and torture being meted out to
them. The PRO of IG, Varanasi zone called up the Sigra police station and
directed the police officials there to take this case seriously. It is
necessary to mention here that Singra police station in charge was also
responsible to look after the daily affairs of Matakund police post so
negligence on the part of police here was inevitable. After this the victim
Shama along with her parents gave a written complaint to the IG, Varansi zone
on 12 December, 2014 and on their complaint IG, Varanasi zone gave the responsibility
to SSP Varanasi to investigate the whole matter. Despite all this, Sigra police
station and Matakund police post officials neither registered a police FIR
against three accused namely Babudan, Gabbu and Pappu nor did they take any
legal action against them. The accused police informers were not happy with the
victim’s family for filing a complaint against them. With the tacit support of
the police and police inaction in the case further boosted the confidence of
the accused informers. As a consequence they decided to forcibly enter the
house of Mohammed Ameen at around 11 to 12 PM and set the victim Shama ablaze
by sprinkling kerosene on her.
It is a tragic irony that on the one hand India has
been honoured with Noble peace prize for protection the rights of child and
women but on the other one also witnesses the grave injustice and insensitivity
as shown by the police officials in Matakund police post in this case that not
only boosted the morale of criminals but also tacitly supported them to commit
such a heinous crime in an organised fashion. As a result the young victim today
is fighting the battle of her life in the hope of getting justice for her and
her family and similarly the minor boy is still bearing the scars of police
torture. In this press meet Mr. Mohammed Ameen, father of the girl victim, Mr.
Mohammed Hamid, father of the minor boy, Anup Srivastava, Dr. Rajiv Singh, Chhaya
Kumari and Irshad Ahmed were present among all others.
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