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

[Rajkamal Goswami]

Can you please initiate..

On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 6:54 PM, asit das <asit1917 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ssb comes under union home ministry we should write protest letters to the
> home minister dg ssb demanding stern action
> asit
>
> On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 6:20 AM, Rajkamal Goswami
> <rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>
>



-- 
Rajkamal