Dalit girl raped and murdered in Lucknow

Lucknow: Close on the heels of the Banda rape incident involving a ruling BSP MLA, a teenaged dalit girl was raped and killed on the outskirts of Lucknow, prompting the opposition parties to renew their attack on the Mayawati government.

The body of Arti, who had gone for sewing classes in Chinhat area, was found in an agriculture field in Malhaur yesterday. Though there were injuries on her body, the post mortem report did not mention rape leading to allegations of foul play.

A second post mortem was conducted today which proved that the girl was raped. "The hymen was ruptured and the girl died of asphyxiation," 


Special Director General of Police Brijlal said, adding a case will be registered against the doctor, who conducted the first autopsy, on charges of hiding evidence.

Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary alleged that "like in the Banda case, there is an effort to save the real culprits of Arti rape case".

Members of different political parties have been visiting the victim's family. Among the first was Congress MP and chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia who took stock of the case yesterday.

"Though the Uttar Pradesh government is being headed by a Dalit woman, the maximum number of complaints of atrocities on Dalits-- almost 90 per cent-- are from this state," Punia said.

A BJP delegation led by the national president of its Scheduled Castes Morcha, Diwakar, today met Arti's family and lashed out at the state government.

"The mother of the deceased who is mentally disturbed ever since the girl's body had been recovered is repeatedly saying that it is a crime to be poor," Diwakar said, adding that an agitiation would soon be launched in case the government failed to take action against the real culprits.

An official spokesman, however, rejected opposition allegations saying that four people have already been detained in the case.

SP spokesman Chaudhary claimed that family of the victim has been saying that the four who have been detained are not the real culprits and "our party workers are exerting pressure to get the real offenders nabbed".

Arti had left for her sewing classes on Tuesday which used to be held between 3 PM-5 PM but did not return home.

On Janury 13, BSP MLA Purshottam Dwivedi was arrested in Banda a month after he allegedly raped a 17-year-old dalit girl who was later implicated in a false theft case. 


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Dalits ostracized- A shameful reality of modern India

MYSORE: Little has changed for the Dalits of Saligrama village of K.R. Nagar taluk in Mysore district who have been ostracised by ‘caste' Hindus since September 26 following a silly altercation.

The Dalits in the village are having a tough time finding work. They are disappointed with the Government, which, they say, has not attempted to ensure social justice for them. The district administration has not distributed the compensation of Rs. 30 lakh released by the Government, they add.
Taking objection to what they consider the apathy of the administration, the district unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to hold a protest rally on Republic Day. Speaking to The Hindu, district BSP president Shivamahadeva regretted that the administration, which had promised to protect the rights of Dalits after the media highlighted the issue, had failed to keep its word.

According to Srinivas of the village, Dalits have been dismissed from their jobs by ‘caste' Hindus after the announcement of the social boycott. People who were earning Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 in the village were forced to trek 10 km to earn Rs. 50, he says, adding that people travelled to nearby Haradanahalli, Karpoorahalli or even Kodagu district for work.

“Except for providing work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the district administration has not done anything so far,” he claims. Although on the surface it appeared that the social boycott had been withdrawn, Dalits were not getting jobs. “We are living under fear,” he says.

Fact-finding team

Of a population of about 10,000, 2,000 people living at Saligrama are Dalits. The social boycott stemmed from an incident where cattle belonging to ‘caste' Hindus grazed on land belonged to a Dalit. When the Dalit registered a complaint with the police, he was reportedly assaulted and a social boycott was called.

A fact finding team of the Communist Part of India (Marxist) led by State Secretariat member Maruthi Manpade found that Dalits were being denied work in farms, while many had lost their jobs. A.H. Vishwanath, Mysore MP, had also appealed to Minister in charge of the district S.A. Ramdas to help the people. “But nothing has changed,” bemoans Krishnamurthy, Dalit leader of Saligrama.

Challenge

The Dalits have taken the social boycott as a challenge, Mr. Srinivas says. “Reposing our faith in the law of the land, we have decided to fight against social boycott. We want the Government to support us under the rights enshrined in the Constitution.”  
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Dalit youth dies in police station, probe ordered

Sanjiv Kumar alias Sipu, a Dalit boy and resident of Fajjupura village in Gurdaspur district, died mysteriously inside the Dhariwal police station on Wednesday, where he was lodged on theft charges. While the police termed it a case of suicide, a judicial inquiry has been ordered and three policemen suspended.

According to reports, the police arrested Sanjiv on the complaint of one Raj Kumar who claimed his mobile phone shop had been burgled and that he suspected Sanjiv.

Claiming that Sanjiv was innocent, his family alleged that he was tortured by the police, which led to his death. Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Varinderpal Singh, meanwhile, said Sanjiv committed suicide. “He used the string of his underwear to hang himself from a water tap,” he said.

The SSP, however, confirmed that they had suspended ASI Amarjit Singh, Constable Harpinder Singh and Constable Parminder Singh for negligence.

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Dalit girl stripped by boutique owner in Kanpur

Kanpur:  A minor Dalit girl was allegedly kept in illegal confinement and stripped in the presence of
two women by a boutique owner in Kanpur, police said on Wednesday.

When the 13-year-old girl cried and protested, the woman, at whose house her mother worked as a domestic help, let her go but "implicated" the duo in an alleged "false" case of theft, senior police and civil officials said quoting the victim's complaint.

While the girl has been released on bail, her mother is still behind bars.

DIG Ashok Mutha Jain and District Magistrate Mukesh Meshram told a press conference that the girl's mother worked as a maid at the house of Shalini Gujral, a boutique owner, in Seesamau area here. The minor also used to help her mother in the work.

A few days ago, when the girl visited Gujral's house, the woman accused her of theft and allegedly confined her with the help of two other women and stripped her after tying her hands
and legs, they said. The woman set her free when she cried and strongly protested, the victim claimed in a statement before the DIG.

On January 16, the boutique owner lodged a complaint against the mother-daughter duo at Fazalganj police station claiming that they had stolen two rings from her house. The next day, the police arrested the two, and a court sent the mother to jail while releasing the girl on bail due to her minor age.

The teenage girl, however, told the police that the rings were given to her by Gujral, and her mother later sold them. The girl claimed that her mother's employer never talked about the rings as they continued to work there. 

The DIG said that considering the seriousness of the allegations, the girl's statement has been recorded before a woman magistrate.

A police inspector has been suspended with immediate effect for filing the case without any investigation, he said, adding the SP (crime) will probe into the incident.

An FIR has been registered against the boutique owner and the two other women besides filing a case under SC/ST Act. 

The matter comes close on the heels of the Banda incident in which a girl belonging to a backward community was allegedly raped by a BSP MLA and the Divya case in which a
minor girl died after allegedly being sexually assaulted inside her school. 

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Mirchpur case verdict by Rohini court

A Rohini(Delhi) court has directed the Haryana government to move 100 undertrials of Hisar Jail to a prison in the Capital following the transfer of the case related to the alleged attack on Dalits by members of the upper caste community in Mirchpur Village in Hisar last April. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau asked Jail Superintendent, Hisar, to ensure that the accused were transferred to Delhi if they were not facing criminal proceedings in any other case.

In December, the Supreme Court had directed that the case, relating to the killing of a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter allegedly by a mob of 102 people, was transferred to a special court in the Capital designated under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to ensure a free and fair trial.The Supreme Court had also said that the special court at Rohini will be free to re-examine witnesses already examined by the Additional Sessions Judge in Hisar.

The apex court passed the order after examining the affidavits filed by two court-appointed advocates, who had submitted that the witnesses were under constant threat due to the hostile atmosphere created by the accused. The Rohini court had then asked the Haryana government to send a special public prosecutor to follow the case, to which it informed the court in a communication that it had requested the NCT government to appoint the prosecutor. The case will come up for hearing on January 14. On April 21 last year, a Dalit man and his daughter were burnt alive in an incident of violence against the Dalit community allegedly by members of the upper caste, forcing about 150 Dalit families to flee Mirchpur Village. Of the 102 people facing trial in the case, one has got bail and another is a juvenile.

Indian Express

UP among states with high rate of Dalit atrocities

Uttar Pradesh is among those states where the percentage of atrocities on Dalits is "higher", National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman P L Punia said.

After taking over as NCSC Chairman in October 2010, he visited states like UP, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra among others. But complaints of atrocities on Dalits is maximum in UP and most of these cases go unreported, Punia told reporters here.

The NCSC Chairman was in the city to participate in programme organised for Scs He alleged that the funds under Special Component plan for dalits in UP have been diverted by the ruling BSP government in the state to open five medical colleges.

After UP, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh figure among those states where atrocities on Dalits is high. He said that NCSC has its offices in 12 states and the rights body has asked the Central government for funds to set-up offices in eight more states.