[Reader-list] protest against gangrape of a deaf and dumb woman by army in assam

[Rajkamal Goswami]

Very very unfortunate incident, but as the first line points out, not
new to the rural NE. However a not so pleasant personal experience
comes to mind. I was doing my wildlife field work in Manas NP in 2008, which
falls under BTC (Bodo Territorial Council). Field work used to stretch
till late evening after which me, along with two of my field assistants
and my driver, would take dinner in a small tea-stall and retire for
the night. One particular night, it got late by the time we reached
that eatery. On reaching there, we saw that 5-6 SSB jawans from the
SSB camp in Bansbari, Baksa district, were boozing and having dinner
there. Not used to seeing us there, one of the guys, who was already spent,
barked at me regarding my whereabouts. On replying, another guy asked
me to join them, to which I replied politely that I am a teetotaler.
Somehow, my lifestyle choice didn't go too well with them and they
started abusing me in choicest Assamese slang. On protest, one of them
stood up, and told me to keep quiet otherwise he would just shoot me
then and there and declare me a terrorist trying to cross over to
Bhutan (Manas borders Bhutan, and hence the SSB camp). I stood there
speechless not knowing what to do. Deciding against any further
altercations as my dignity and self esteem were already considerable
bruised, I decided to back off and went back to our field station. We
carried on with our field work for the rest of the season (abt 3
months) without further such incidents as we avoided going to  that
shop if it got too late. Also the tea-stall owner told me that its a
usual routine and they frequently man handled him and abused him if he
refused to yield to their unfair demands. This incident, from the same
landscape, just brought back that incident and jarred me. If there is
any way I can do anything regarding such abuse of power please let me
know. I will be more than willing to do my bit.

Regards
Rajkamal

On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 6:27 PM, asit das <asit1917 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  Gang Rape by Indian Army in front of husband at Indo-Bhutan border
>
> By- Correspondent | Date- September 12, 2011
>
> In a heinous incident, not new to the rural North East India, a woman from
> rural Kokrajhar district near the Indo- Bhutan border was allegedly gang
> raped by Jawans of SSB on the night of 10th September.
>
> As per reports, a deaf and dumb 35 year old woman Deobari Basumatary, wife
> of Amal Basumatary was gang raped at night in front of her husband by the
> SSB Jawans. The incident happened at village No.1 Sonapur under Bismuri
> Police in the Kokrajhar district of Assam.
>
> According to Amal Basumatary, husband of the victim, a group of SSB Jawans
> forcefully entered their house at around 11.30 pm, manhandled him and raped
> his wife in front of him. Later they dragged her to a nearby place and
> repeatedly raped her one after another.
>
> The victim, Deobari Basumatary, her husband and the villagers, including the
> *Gaonbura*, came to Bismuri to file an FIR against the SSB Jawans on 11th
> September.
>
> Noted human rights organization *Borosa Foundation for Peace, Democracy and
> Human Rights *have taken up the matter and have made a complaint to the
> National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the matter. In a press release
> issued by the organization, they have stated that “these incidents have
> exposed an ugly anti-people attitude of some rowdy and indiscipline Jawans
> involved in the crimes who are otherwise deployed to help in protecting
> lives and properties of the innocent people and maintain law and order in
> the trouble torn region”. Condemning the incident, the organization stated
> that these are clear examples of Human Rights violation and because no
> appropriate actions was taken so far to punish the culprits involved in
> previous incidents, the  crimes have been repeated again and again in the
> district.
>
> Mentionable that some months back, one Manek Goyary of village Tharaibari of
> Choraikola was also reportedly raped by six 15 Dogra regiment stationed at
> Adabri on 20th April, 2011. An FIR was lodged at Kokrajhar police station
> but to no effect.
>
> The incident has once again put a question mark over the functioning of the
> Indian Army in the north eastern region and the Armed Forces Special Power
> Act (AFSPA) which is active in the region in spite of stiff resentment by
> the people of the region.
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-- 
Rajkamal