Wait for justice just got longer

Three major cases – conviction of 'Rockstar Baba' Gurmeet Ram Rahim by a Haryana court for rape of two of his disciples, acquittal of an accused in rape and murder of Ayesha and commemoration of the 10-year battle for justice by Adivasi women subjected to sexual assault by armed forces – shook the conscience of gender-sensitive civil society.

The grit and determination demonstrated by unassuming Adivasis of Vakapalli in Visakhapatnam Agency resembled the protest launched by women in Manipur under the aegis of Irom Sharmila. Armed forces were portrayed as a villain of the piece in both the cases.

Backed by rights activists, the Adivasis of Kondh tribe, regarded as particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), held a meeting at Vakapalli in Visakhapatnam Agency a few days ago to mark the offence allegedly perpetrated by Greyhounds. The Greyhounds, the state’s elite anti-naxal force, was constituted to weed out Left wing extremists from the Agency areas.

Ten years on, and the wait of Adivasis for justice is still on. The cry for justice at the commemoration meet, however, went unheard in the din of battle for ballot of the ruling and the opposition parties in the Nandyal byelection. The media was busy splashing lengthy stories revolving around the vitriol and high-stakes betting on the election outcome. The armed forces were alleged to have committed rape on 11 women in 2007 during combing operations in their habitation, known as Maoist-infested village in the police records.

On August 20, 2007, Greyhounds personnel allegedly entered Vakapalli in G Madugula mandal in Visakhapatnam district as part of conducting routine combing operations. When men were out either in the farm fields or were in pursuit of collecting forest produce in the early hours, the armed forces sexually exploited the hapless Adivasi women at gun point, it is alleged.

Although a complaint was lodged at the Paderu police station with the help of local BSP MLA L Raja Rao and a case was registered, no proper investigation was done. It is because of the fact that the very police are facing rape charges. The case was transferred to the CB-CID and it ruled out any scope for sexual assault on the victims as there was no evidence suggesting signs of violence on the persons of the victims. Two victims died in the process of prolonged legal battle, yet justice remains elusive still.

Sudha, a human rights activist, told this writer that the victims were subjected to lures and intimidation from the armed forces to withdraw the complaint. The victims are under the watch of men in plain clothes in the village shandies, she said. Yet, they are determined to carry forward their struggle for punitive action against the perpetrators of crime.

A common thread runs between the Vakapalli rape case and the Ayesha murder case. Incidentally, culprits managed to go scot-free in both the cases. Ayesha, a pharmacy student, was found murdered in her hostel at Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district 10 years ago.

The police arrested a person Pidathala Satyam Babu from Nandigama in Krishna district, accused in petty offences and a lower court convicted him of offence and sentenced to a jail term of eight years. In the meantime, the High Court absolved him of the offence. With this, the women activists and parents of Ayesha continued their crusade to bring to book the real culprits behind the alleged rape and murder of Ayesha.

The Ayesha murder case became sensational with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in his role as the opposition leader at that time, led the struggle from the front seeking to put the “high-profile” accused, allegedly enjoying blessings of the then ruling Congress, behind bars. Naidu is back to power when the case is back to the square one with the absolving of Satyam Babu of guilt.

The High Court directed the government to act against the police officers entrusted with investigation of the case for their goof-up and reopen the case so as to zero in on the real culprits. The government is accused of dilly-dallying over acting against the erring cops. V S Krishna, president of Human Rights Forum, said both the Vakapalli and the Ayesha cases exposed the institutional failure which denied justice to the victims.

“There is no common thread in rock star baba’s case. The law could at last lay its hands on the god man on rape charges. But the resistance from his thousands of followers in the form of riots, damage of public properties and violent protests is uncalled for,” lamented Ramasundari, a woman activist. A write-up on the social media posted by a police officer reads: “When a rape accused is not arrested, we burn candles. When a rape accused is arrested, we burn the city.”