[Reader-list] Fwd: Invite to Meeting 31st March GPF, Delhi - on Women Prisoners & Custodial Violence

[Nagraj Adve]

*ALL INDIA MEETING ON WOMEN PRISONERS & CUSTODIAL VIOLENCE*

*31st MARCH 2012       9.30 AM – 6.00 PM*

*GANDHI PEACE FOUNDATION, DELHI***



*“... it is not my suffering alone ... there are many other women prisoners
suffering ... like me, they were hunted and brought here, and then charged
in false cases. (Every) day people introduce me to new stories of their
sufferings ... They tell me that they were not able to fight back because
there was no one to support them ... After hearing their stories of
torture, my own suffering appears small... (you) have to do something for
these women also ... my struggle is not my struggle alone, but it has
become everyone’s struggle”**… *

>From the letters of Soni Sori from prison, November 2011



In her letter to the Supreme Court advocate, Soni says, *“After repeatedly
giving me electric shocks, my clothes were taken off. I was made to stand
naked. SP was watching me, sitting on his chair. While looking at my body,
he abused me in filthy language and humiliated me. After some time, he went
out and (...) sent three boys. (They) started molesting me and I fell after
they pushed me. Then they put things inside my body in a brutal manner. I
couldn’t bear the pain and I was almost unconscious. After a long time, I
regained consciousness (...)***



*
*

Friends,



By now, many of you would be aware of the case of Soni Sori. For those who
do not know, she is a 35‐year old adivasi schoolteacher, warden and mother,
subjected to sexual violence in custody in the Dantewada police station in
Chhattisgarh, under directions of the Superintendent of Police (SP). She
has been languishing in jail for the past six months, awaiting a fair
hearing. Awaiting justice.



Soni Sori had come to Delhi in September 2011 to escape harassment by the
Chhattisgarh police and file a legal complaint against them. However,
before her petition could be filed before the Supreme Court, she was
arrested and remanded by the Delhi courts to the custody of Chhattisgarh
Police. In view of her concerns about threats to her life from the police,
the Court issued explicit directions to ensure her safety and to file a
report before them about steps taken in this regard. Yet, while in police
custody in Dantewada, she was sexually tortured by the Chhattisgarh police.



This happened on the night of October 8th 2011. Soni, naked, administered
electric current, had stones, pebbles and batons shoved into her private
parts. The full brutality of this torture was confirmed by the NRS Medical
College and Hospital, Kolkata, which conducted an independent medical exam
on her and discovered three stones still lodged deep inside her body and
injuries to her spine. Instead of initiating any action against him, this
SP was recently conferred the President’s Gallantry Award for bravery,
totally ignoring the serious charges that have been made against him of
ordering torture of a woman in custody.



*WHY ARE WE CONCERNED ABOUT SONI SORI’S CASE?***



·      Publicly available material indicates that the charges against Soni
Sori are false and politically motivated and currently her petition on this
is in the Supreme Court.



·      That Soni Sori has suffered custodial violence at the hands of the
Chhattisgarh Police, in spite of the attention of the media and the
explicit orders of the Delhi High Court to ensure her safety, is extremely
worrisome. It points towards a dangerous and flagrant contempt for law by
the police in Chhattisgarh.



·      Despite repeated petitioning, the other state institutions for
protection of citizens’ rights have been indifferent towards these
violations and the contempt for court orders by the police. This raises
further concerns of their impunity and lack of accountability.



Soni Sori’s case is not an isolated one, as she herself has said in her
letter. Increasingly, arrests and detention under false charges are being
used by the state as a form of punishment and repression to silence
activists, to put down mass struggles by the marginalised people for their
rights and livelihoods and to curb any form of dissent. In this situation,
poor women from the most marginalised communities have become even more
vulnerable and are bearing the brunt of the violence and persecution by the
law‐keepers.



Available reports show that many jails across the country are witness
to torture
and other cruel practices perpetrated on prisoners, both women and men.



Ø  According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) prison
statistics, till the end of 2010, women formed 4.1% of the total prisoners.
There were 4632 women convicts (428 with 497 children) and 10252 under
trials (1063 with 1,166 children). Also the report mentions 34 deaths of
women inmates in 2010, of which 5 were suicides.



Ø  According to the Director General (Prisons), Tihar Jail, Neeraj Kumar, 73.5%
inmates (8,911 out of 12,124 which also include 410 women) from Tihar Jail,
Delhi, were undergoing trial. This is much above the national average of
66.4% undertrials in Indian jails. At the same time, we are also concerned
by reports of violence against women in “protective” custody in other state
institutions, such as in shelters and remand homes.



In view of this situation, we need to bring out the facts about prison
conditions, highlight the conditions of women in custody and the violations
of their rights as undertrials and convicts. We need to formulate effective
strategies to make state institutions more responsible and accountable and
ensure that the rights of all people, including those of women, are not
violated under any circumstances.



It is with these concerns and objectives that some organisations in Delhi
have got together to hold a day‐long public meeting on the issue of
custodial violence and women prisoners. Lawyers and activists from
different part of the country (including some who have also been jailed
under repressive laws) will be present to share their experiences.



We invite you to participate in this meeting and share your strategies to
safeguard our democratic and constitutionally guaranteed rights and
liberties.



In solidarity,



*SAHELI, People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), *

*People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) & *

*Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)***