Times of India, Delhi

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Indian Express, Delhi
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Indian Express, Delhi
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Hindu, Delhi
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Statesman, Delhi
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NHRC notice to Chhattisgarh govt on sexual assault by cops

NEW DELHI: JANUARY 08, 2017 01:

01:07 IST

Commission finds prima facie evidence of assault on 16 women

Sixteen women were prima facie found to be sexually and physically assaulted by
Chhattisgarh Police personnel, as per the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC), which issued a show
show-cause
cause notice to the State government on Saturday.

News reports, complaints

The NHRC was hearing the matter of alleged sexual as assault
sault by police personnel in
Chhattisgarh, based on complaints that it received in 2016, as well as a news report
from November, 2015 that it took suo motu cognisance of certain news reports. As
per the reports and complaints, several women were assaulted by police personnel in
the Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh. Looking at the gravity
of the allegations, the full Bench of the NHRC considered the matter on February 22,
2016 and ordered an investigation into the case. The NHRC team recorded the
statements of some of the security personnel and victims, but was unable to reach
out to all the victims mentioned in the FIRs filed in the cases.

Monetary relief
While it is yet to record the statements of 20 of the women, the NHRC has found that
16 of them were prima facie assaulted by police personnel. Issuing a notice to the
Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary, the NHRC asked why it should not recommend an
interim monetary relief of 37 lakh for the 16 victims. The amount includes 3 lakh
for each
ach of the eight victims of rape, 2 lakh for each of the six victims of sexual
assault and 50,000 each for the two victims of physical assault.

State is liable
The Commission has observed that it is of the view that, prima facie, human rights
of the victims have been grossly violated by the security personnel of the government
of Chhattisgarh for which the State government is vicariously liable, said an NHRC
statement.
The statements of the remaining victims would be recorded within a month, either
eith by
a new NHRC investigation team or the magistrate concerned.
The Indian Express
After NHRC notice, now Chhattisgarh HC will hear sexual assault of
tribal women case
08th January 2017

RAIPUR: After the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) serving a notice to
the Chhattisgarh government asking why it shouldnt recommend interim relief to
the victims of rape and sexual violence in restive Bastar, the "sexual assault" case
will come up for hearing before the state high court at Bilaspur on Monday.
The NHRC during its fact-finding visit and inquiry in February last year has prima-
facie found 16 women sexually and physically assaulted by the security personnel
in strife-torn Bijapur district.
The human rights of the victims have been grossly violated by the security
personnel of the state for which Chhattisgarh government is vicariously liable, the
rights body observed. Issuing a notice to the state chief secretary, the NHRC asked
why it should not recommend an interim monetary relief of 37 lakh for the 16
victims.
The victims represented by a tribal organisation Sarva Adivasi Samaj also
approached the high court last year seeking justice. The court had then cited that
the victims should come forward.
The court during its first hearing in December last felt that the issue can be better
reflected through the victim-connect. They can give an account with their
testimonies. So, we have produced intervention applications of 14 women victims
before the court. The case is slated to be heard on January 9, the counsel of the
tribal body Kishore Narayan told Express. There are around 50 tribal women
victims from different villages, the lawyer informed.
The hearing will come up before the division bench led by the Chief Justice Deepak
Gupta.
The victims are optimistic.The strong observations and remark by the NHRC
couldnt have come at a better time, and they are not losing hope. The good thing is
that the affected tribal women are gaining awareness about the legal rights too,
said the tribal rights activist Soni Sori, who lives in Dantewada, south Bastar.
Ironically, even after a year of lodging an FIR against the state security personnel
by the victims, there has been no arrest so far.
Bijapur superintendent of police KL Dhruv told Express that the state CID in
inquiring into the grave allegations. There has been no arrest so far. The security
forces have been named in the FIR but as far as I know none of the security
personnel has been identified in the complaint.
The victims has added a prayer before the high court that their case shouldnt be
investigated by the state police as they fear a biased and partial probe and sought
an inquiry be conducted through the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by
officers from outside the Chhattisgarh state.
Last year the Bastar inspector general of police SRP Kalluri declared that Bastar
will turn into a Maoist-free land through Mission 2016. However following the
reported incidents of sexual assaults, the human rights organisation Peoples
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) expressed deep concern alleging that sexual
violence has become a part of the anti-naxal operations in Bastar.
IndiaToday.in
16 women raped, assaulted by Chhattisgarh police personnel: NHRC
Almost all of the victims are tribals, the National Human Rights Commission finds, sends notice
to Chhattisgarh government.

January 8, 2017

The National Human Rights Commission on Saturday sent a notice to the

Chhattisgarh government over the alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16
women by the state's police personnel. Observing that the government is "vicariously
liable" for the alleged crimes, the commission asked the government to show cause
why the NHRC should not recommend interim monetary relief to the tune of Rs 37
lakh for the women. The commission also observed that it is of the view that prima
facie, human rights of the victims have been "grossly violated".

After examining the material available on record, including three FIRs, the NHRC
found that found that there are in "total 34 victims mentioned in police complaints."
However, the commission noted that statements of only 15 victims have been
recorded by a magistrate, and directed the Chhattisgarh Additional Director General
of Police (CID) to get the statements of the other 19 victims recorded before a
magistrate.

The NHRC team itself examined several people in the matter, including the security
personnel and some of the victims. The team was able to record statements of only 14
of the 34 women mentioned in the FIRs.

'ALMOST ALL VICTIMS TRIBALS'

The NHRC said, "Almost all the victims in these incidents, covered under the three
FIRs, are tribals," noting that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act was not invoked in any of the cases. Due to this, the monetary relief
under the SC/ST (POA) Act was not paid to the victims. The commission thus
directed the Chhattisgarh chief secretary to ensure that monetary relief, if any, under
the act is paid to the victims at the earliest.

The NHRC's statement clarified that the current directions are of an "interim nature
and a final view will be taken in respect of other victims and also with regard to other
issues involved in this matter in due course of time". A full bench of the commission
considered the matter on February 22 last year after allegations emerged that
Chhattisgarh state police personnel had sexually harassed and assaulted more than
40 women in five villages and gangraped at least two in the Bijapur district.
Chhattisgarh: NHRC says 16 women raped by police, send notices to
government

The NHRC also said that it awaits the recorded statement of about "20 other victims".
Sun, 8 Jan 2017

The National Human Rights Commission has sent a notice to Chhattisgarh

government over alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16 women by the state
police personnel, and observed the government is "vicariously liable" for it. The
Commission, in a statement on Saturday also said that it awaits the recorded
statement of about "20 other victims".
"The NHRC has found 16 women, prima facie, victims of rape, sexual and physical
assault by the state police personnel in Chhattisgarh," it said.
The Commission has issued the notice to the "government through its Chief
Secretary, to show cause why it should not recommend interim monetary relief of Rs
37 lakh to them. "This includes, Rs 3 lakh each to eight victims of rape, Rs 2 lakh
each to six victims of sexual assault and Rs 50,000 each to two victims of physical
assault." The NHRC has observed it is of the view that prima-facie, human rights of
the victims have been "grossly violated" by the security personnel for which
Chattisgarh government is "vicariously liable".
It also found that the grave allegations of "physical as well as rape/sexual assault
committed by security personnel of government of Chhattisgarh, made in the FIRs,
were reiterated before the NHRC Team, which conducted spot investigation before the
magistrate." The Commission said that after careful consideration of the material on
record, it found that there are in "total 34 victims mentioned in police complaints."
"The material includes copies of statement of victims recorded by the NHRC Team as
well as those recorded u/s 164 CrPC in case FIR No. 22/15, FIR No. 2/16 and FIR
No. 3/16 in respect of 15 victims, sent by the IGP, Police Headquarters, Raipur vide
letter dated November 12, 2016," the NHRC said in the statement.
The Commission has also noted that the NHRC Team "could record the statements of
only 14 victims out of the 34 victims mentioned in the FIRs. Thus, statements of 20
victims are yet to be recorded by it." "The statements u/s 164 CrPC have been
recorded by the magistrate only in respect of 15 victims. Thus, statements of 19 more
victims are yet to be recorded.
"Almost all the victims in these incidents, covered under the three FIRs, are tribals.
However, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has
not been invoked in any of the cases. As a result of this, the due monetary relief
under the SC/ST (PoA) Act has not been paid to the victims," it added.
The Huffington Post
Chhattisgarh Police Raped And Assaulted 16 Women, Finds NHRC
Report
The NHRC is waiting for the statements of 20 more women.

Updated 08/01/2017 9:19 AM IST

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has found that 16 women in
Chhattisgarh are "prima facie victims of rape, sexual and physical assault by the
State police personnel in Chhattisgarh even as it awaits the recorded statement of
about 20 other victims."

In a press release on Saturday the NHRC said that it had issued a notice to the state
government and had asked why it should not recommend interim monetary relief of
Rs 37 lakh.

The NHRC said, "The Commission has observed that it is of the view that, prima-
facie, human rights of the victims have been grossly violated by the security
personnel of the Government of Chhattisgarh for which the State Government is
vicariously liable."

It said in the press release that it had found this after it took suo motu cognisance of
a report in The Indian Express published in November 2015 that had said that
women from five villages of Pegdapalli, Chinnagelur, Peddagellur, Gundam and
Burgicheru had alleged that the Chhattisgarh police personnel had sexually harassed
and assaulted more than 40 of them, and gangraped at least two.

The NHRC said that during the course of this enquiry, they received another
complaint dated January21, 2016, bringing to its notice more incidents of sexual
violence by the security personnel against women that took place between January
11 and 14, 2016 at the Bellam Lendra (Nendra) village of the Bijapur district and at
the Kunna village in the Sukma district and in Chotegadam in the Dantewada
district. The NHRC has sought reports from state authorities regarding these
incidents as well, the statement said.

The NHRC said that it had submitted it inquiry report which was sent to the chief
secretary and DGP, Government of Chhattisgarh for their response.