Torture and Sexual Assault in Police Custody

Here Justice dies ……

By Adv. Suma Joseph

When Delhi was boiling after the December 16 gang rape just fews days later on 27th  December a 55 year old woman was tortured and sexually assaulted in police custody. On 27^th December 2012, the old lady along with her grand daughter arrived at Nizammudin Railway Station. She had come to see her daughter and son in law who had lost both his legs in an accident.

She was taken into police custody on false charges of kidnapping. There were 7 police officers and no female constable to accompany her. She was beaten up all night by these police officers with no specific evidence or reason to do so. She was battered with belts and sticks by the officers. Also one of the police officer sexually assaulted her and forced her for unnatural sex.

The poor 60 year old lady was harassed for 4 days at stretch and her grand daughter left alone on the railway station. She was threatened for life and respect. When HRLN Lawyer met her in prison she was covered with bruises and wounds all over her body. The tragedy of the case is that even when she was taken before the Magistrate, he failed to see the bruises on her face and marks on her body.

What can be worst is that a poor lady was asked to submit Rs. 10, 000 as bail bond for the first time by the duty magistrate on January 1^st and later in the concerned court , the magistrate asked for furnishing surety amount of Rs. 15000. An urgent application was moved by HRLN in the high court for a fresh medical and action to be taken against the police. The court issued notice to file status report and production of the petitioner. The next date of hearing is on 21^st February 2013.

Delhi HC orders for entitlements to Below Poverty Line Women within 6 weeks

11 January 2013, NEW DELHI

In a contempt hearing initiated by the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), the Delhi High Court gave the Union of India and the NCT of Delhi “a final opportunity” to fully implement the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS) within six weeks.  If the NCT Delhi fails to fulfill its obligations by 7 March 2013, the Respondents will have to answer to the Court. The contempt petition emerges from the Delhi High Court’s judgment in Laxmi Mandal vs. Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital & Ors. (W.P. (C) 8852/2008).  In its landmark decision, the Delhi High Court became the first national level court to hold that maternal mortality is a violation of a woman’s fundamental right to life. The petition outlines the circumstances leading to the preventable maternal death of Shanti Devi and the degrading conditions under which Fatema delivered her daughter, Alisha.  The High Court passed extensive orders to award compensation to the families and to ensure meaningful implementation of government schemes for Below Poverty Line women.  To date, the Respondents have not complied with these orders.

Broadly, JSY establishes cash incentives for delivery care and NMBS provides Rs. 500 to all pregnant women 8-12 weeks prior to delivery.  Because the Government of Delhi has failed to implement these schemes, homeless pregnant and lactating women like Fatema and Priya Kale, have been unable to access the government entitlements that provide them with the minimum nutritional and financial support they need to survive.

The original Writ Petition,Laxmi Mandal vs. Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital & Ors. (W.P. (C) 8852/2008), details grave violations of Shanti Devi and Fatema’s fundamental rights. Shanti Devi had no choice but to carry a dead fetus in her womb for 5 days, as multiple facilities refused to treat her.  She only received medical care after the Delhi High Court intervened. While the High Court considered the petition, Shanti Devi became pregnant again, and died after giving birth to a pre-mature baby. The baby, Archana, survived and currently lives with a neighboring family. Fatema delivered her daughter, Alisha, in full public view under a tree in Jangpura, New Delhi. In both cases, the government failed to provide the women with their financial or nutritional entitlements under myriad Union of India sponsored schemes. The Court ultimately found that the Respondents violated both Shanti Devi and Fatema’s fundamental rights to life and health under the Constitution.  In addition to providing compensation to both Shanti Devi’s family and to Fatema, the Court ordered the Respondents to comply with a 2007 Supreme Court order directing all state governments and Union Territories to implement both the NMBS and JSY schemes.

HRLN will continue to pursue this matter until the most marginalized women in Delhi can fully realize their right to healthy and dignified, pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum period.

For more information, please contact:
Kerry McBroom, Director, Reproductive Rights Unit, HRLN (+91 9650316596)
or
Advocate Jayshree Satpute (+91 9871155098)

Read the order here

The Supreme Court of India sets up a commission to look into extra-judicial killings in the State of Manipur

    

In the case of Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) and Another versus Union of India & Another, a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court it stated that during the  period  May,  1979 to  May,  2012,  1528  people  were  killed  in  Manipur  in  extra-judicial execution. The statement is mainly based on a memorandum prepared by  'Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN'  and  submitted  to one  Christof  Heyns,  Special  Rapporteur  on  extrajudicial,  summary   or arbitrary executions, Mission to India, 19-30 March,  2012.  

The petition highlights the list of 1528 people  unlawfully killed by  the  State Police  or  the  security  forces.  The Court ordered constituion of a three member committee to look into extra judicial killing and the circumstances in which people were killed. And if the commission finds that the state police/ security forces transgress the legal boundaries the commission shall make its recommendations. It also ordered State Government to hand over the commission without any delay all records, materials and evidences relating to the cases. 

Read the full order here

For more information Contact:

Adv. Shamik Naraian

litigation.delhi@hrln.org 

Supreme Court summons health secretaries of 7 states over female foeticide, infanticide

Concerned over the drastic drop in the girl child ratio across the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from seven worst performing States and summoned their health secretaries. The Court wanted them to explain action taken by them against offenders who violated the PNDT Act that prohibits pre-natal sex determination.

The average count of the girl child (0-6 years) has dropped to 914 per 1,000 boys as per the Census 2011 from a relatively high level of 927 in the the 2001 Census. The apex bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra noted that the ration was particularly dismal in in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Delhi.

Issuing notice to the respective State Governments to respond by February 12, the bench directed the respective Health Secretaries to remain present in Court with statistics explaining action taken under the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994.

Drawing a direct link between the fall in the female child ratio with the prevailing mindset to have a boy child, the bench said, "Society as a whole is not accepting equality between boy and girl." Attacking the superstition that hell awaits those who failed to conceive a boy, the bench added, "There has to be a change in this mindset."
The Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, which filed the PIL in apex court to highlight serious violations of PNDT Act, stated that when it came to matching the girl child ratio with that of boys, the above seven States/UTs fared the worst. "Any figure below 900 girls per 1000 boys is to be viewed seriously," said senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the NGO.
In Rajasthan, for instance, the ratio of female child was 909 in the previous census and  dropped to 883 in the 2011 count. Uttar Pradesh also recorded a drop  from 916 to 899, Bihar 942 to 933, and Delhi 868 to 867.  Maharashtra  witnessed a drastic slip from 913 to 883 in a decade, while e Punjab and Haryana recorded an increase from 798 to 846 and 819 to 830 respectively.
Three other states Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, too fared badly on the census list.
In order to ascertain the effective implementation of the PNDT Act, the Court asked the Health Secretaries to present statistics on the number of persons booked under the Act since its inception, prosecutions pending and convictions achieved.
Gonsalves pointed out that prosecution figure was very low and only few cases yielded conviction. While the law provides for three years sentence, seldom do courts impose it as in majority cases, accused were let off with fine. Thus the Act failed to be a deterrent against female foeticide as intended by the legislature, Gonsalves said. He even accused the Centre of not conducting periodic reviews of state agencies under the Act, meant to supervise registration of clinics and centres conducting pre-natal diagnosis.

Jharkhand HC orders inquiry into pollution of Damodar Valley

HRLN Jharkhand filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Jharkhand High Court in relation to increasing pollution in the Damodar Valley.

Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is running a mining project  in the district of Chatra, Jharkhand . The project is running close to the houses and schools endangering lives of many people. The heavy blasting is causing damage to buildings.  There is also release of heavy smoke causing air pollution. CCL has also dumped the waste and other articles into Damodar due to which the natural flow of the river has got destructed.

This High Court has  ordered Deputy Commissioner of Chatra District to conduct an inquiry into the activities of CCL and the increasing pollution in Damodar valley.

Read the full order here

For more Information Contact:

Anup Kumar Agrawal
HRLN Ranchi
ranchi@hrln.org
Mobile- 9470379521

Supreme Court's Judgment on Sexual Harassment at Workplace

After years of struggle , The Supreme Court of India has passed a judgmnent in the Medha Kotwal Lele case of sexual harrasment at workplace.

The Court in the order says " Lip service, hollow statements and  inert
and inadequate laws with sloppy enforcement are  not  enough  for  true  and
genuine upliftment of our half most precious population – the women." also directing the Bar Council of India , Medical Council of  India,   Council  of
Architecture, Institute  of  Chartered  Accountants,  Institute  of  Company
Secretaries  and  other  statutory  Institutes   shall   ensure   that   the
organisations,    bodies,    associations,    institutions    and    persons
registered/affiliated to follow the guidelines laid down by  Vishaka.

Read the full order here

Juveniles being forced into crime

The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued notice to the city police and the department of women and child development on a PIL alleging that a large number of underpriviledged juveniles were being forced to take up crime by organised gangs.
Seeking a direction to the authorities to protect children from being pushed into the world of crime, the PIL said the earlier order to the Delhi police to act against adult criminals, accused of pushing children into crime, has not been complied with.
Taking note of the petition filed by an NGO, a bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.S. Endlaw asked the Delhi police to file a status report indicating the steps taken by it to implement the order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), which had on January 25 last year asked the police to probe and act against adult offenders for using children in offences like theft.
The Juvenile Justice Board, taking note of an organised gang called “Thak-Thak” (knock-knock) gang, had asked the Delhi police to take action against the adult criminals for using children.
Lawyer Anant Asthana, appearing for the NGO Society of Values and Ethics in Education, submitted in the court, “The state and its instrumentalities should come forward with full might and determination to protect children who are being trapped into this circle of crime by adults due to their vulnerability, helplessness and tender age. This situation has been prevailing in Delhi for quite a long time now while the respondent (Delhi police) have been dealing with this problem in a casual manner not realising the gravity involved and not realising the urgency with which duty holders need to respond to this challenge,” the PIL said.

Read the article 30th August Asian Age