The endorsements are still coming in. Protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Delhi at 5 pm tomorrow, December 1, 2010. Please send endorsements to:
nirantar.mail@gmail.com
As women’s groups, child rights groups, sexual rights groups, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer rights groups and other progressive groups, academicians and concerned individuals, we are shocked by the repeated incidents of sexual assault on women from the North East in the capital of India in recent months. The incident of rape of a 30-year-old woman in Dhaula Kuan on 23rdNovember has again pointed to the failure of the Delhi government to ensure safety of women and especially of women from the North East.
On 23rd November, 2010, a 30-year-old woman from Mizoram was coming back from her office and was picked up by four drunken men near Dhaula Kuan. She was gang-raped for over 40 minutes in a moving vehicle. When the woman was picked up, she was with a female friend who managed to escape and who informed the police immediately. Despite this, the police were unable to trace the vehicle. Due to thin police presence and virtually no patrolling, in an area that is known to be particularly unsafe for women, the accused had a free run. Around 2 pm, the rapists dumped the woman at Mongolpuri Industrial Estate.
This incident reminds us of another young woman from the North East in 2005 who was also picked up from Dhaula Kuan and gang raped. In fact, in the past six months itself numerous other incidents of sexual assault on women from North East have taken place. On May 26th, a 20-year-old woman from Manipur was beaten severely by a man in Munirka after she resisted attempted sexual assault by him. On August 29th, a Manipuri woman was molested by the manager of a restobar in L-Block, Connaught Place. On October 22nd, a21-yr-old Jamia Millia Islamia student from Arunachal Pradesh was molested by group of school students inside their south Delhi school.On October 25th, a 19-yr-old Naga woman was murdered by an IIT PhD scholar in Munirka.
These are not stand-alone incidents. Women from the North East face regular harassment and assault. Often it is assumed that they are ‘available’ and women of ‘loose character’. The sexual assaults on women from the North East are even justified by saying that they ‘asked for it’ because of the way they look and dress. As individuals and groups working on rights we strongly condemn such social attitudes which ‘blame the victim’. We also affirm the right of all women to dress, behave and live in a manner they desire, without their basic right to security being violated. We demand that the Delhi government take appropriate measures to address and curb sexual assault on women, and in particular women from the North East who have been particularly targeted in the recent past. We condemn the recent crime, the Delhi government and specially the Delhi Police for their failure to provide security for women as well as redressal when this security is breached. The Delhi police must be more responsive or else its claims to make Delhi safe for women will be proved entirely hollow.
We demand the following actions to be taken by the Delhi government:
1. The rapists involved in the crime that took place on 23rd November must immediately be arrested.
2. The security measures in and around Delhi and particularly in areas that are more unsafe for women be enhanced.
3. More effective mechanisms must be instituted to ensure the safety of women in Delhi, especially women from the North East.
4. The Delhi government must issue guidelines to BPOs and other employers in order that they increase security measures when women staff members are dropped to their residence.
5. Immediately provide better street lights and police patrols in all areas, and bus stops.
Undersigned-
1. Nirantar- Centre for Gender and Education
2. Urmi Ray,Kolkata
3. O.Y.S.T.E.R, Hyderabad
4. Sonali roy, New Delhi
5. Lalthankunga Hma
6. Rajashri Dasgupta, Kolkatta
7. Bijulal M.V
8. Saheli, New Delhi
9. Nidhi gaur, Delhi University
10. Anita Ghai,
11. Sonali gaur
12. PLD
13. Swathy, D.U
14. LABIA
15. FAOW
16. Mary. E John, CWDS, New Delhi
17. The YP Foundation, New Delhi
18. Meghna Arora, DU
19. Pramada Menon, Gurgaon,
20. Sophie Murphy
21. TARSHI, new Delhi
22. Geeta Sheshu, Journalist, Mumbai
23. Uma Chakrabarty, New Delhi
24. Subhadeepta Ray, Department of Sociology,Delhi University
25. Jayasree Subramanian,Eklavya, Bhopal
26. Janet Sunita, Delhi
27. Suchi Kushwah, Delhi
28. Urjiva Priyadarshani,
29. Prasanna, Cochin
30. Teena Gil
31. Point of View, Mumbai
32. Vineeta Bal, Scientist, New Delhi
33. Ruhul Amin, CHSJ, New Delhi
34. Satish Kr. Singh, CHSJ, New Delhi
35. Rahul Roy, New Delhi
36. Society for women’s action and Training Initiatives
37. Renu Khanna SAHAJ Vadodara
38. Anuradha
39. Sumi Krishna, Bangalore
40. Dipti Kulkarni, Research Scholar – Linguistics and Communication, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
41. Shalini Krishan, New Delhi
42. Dhurvajyoti Barman, New Delhi
43. Ramlath Kavil
44. Supriya Madangarli
45. Geetanjali Gangoli
46. Prasanna Nair
47. Dimple Vahali Oberoi
48. Honey Vahali Oberoi
49. Diamond Vahali Oberoi
50. Viji. P , Penkoottu, Kerala
51. Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal
52. Pratiksha Baxi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Study of Law and Governance, JNU
53. Nalini Visvanathan
54. Lena Ganesh
55. Uma Chandru
56. Rosemary Dzuvichu,Advisor, Naga Mothers Association, Nagaland University,Kohima
57. Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, convenor, VRIKSHAMITRA, Chandrapur/Gadchiroli,
58. Roke Noir
59. Anna Palmer, New Delhi
60. Bashabi Barua,Dhaka University, Bangladesh
61. Anupama Chandra
62. Ammu Joseph (Bangalore)
63. Mrs. Hansa and Daniel Mazgaonkar.
64. Professor Nivedita Menon, JNU
65. EKTA Resource Centre
66. Neelima Aryan, Bangalore
67. Pooja Mondal, Student, Delhi
68. Rituraj Borah, Delhi
69. Paromita Vohra, DEVI PICTURES
70. Monica Narula,
71. Point of View, Mumbai
72. Ranjana Padhi, Pune
73. Swayam, Kolkatta
74. Haritha, ED, HID forum, Bangalore
75. Vidya Bhushan Rawat
76. Lalitha Iyer
77. Manisha Gupte
78. Dr. Ramesh Awasthi
79. Anwar Rajan
80. Anahita Sarabhai
81. North East Network
82. Pasangdlepcha
83. Anju Dwivedi
84. Arnab Sen
85. Anuja Krishna
86. Leslie Martin
87. Archana Dwivedi
88. Lakshmi Premkumar
89. Byomkesh Kumar Lal, Action Aid
90. Vijayan M J, Delhi Forum
91. Helam Haokip
92. Nandini sundar
93. Gayatri Buragohain, Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT), New Delhi
94. Bimla
95. Rama Kant Rai, National Coalition for Education
96. Adhikaar (LGBT Adhikaar in India)
97. Aditya Bondyopadhyay (Advocate)
98. Hillol Dutta
99. Lok Prakash
100. Vimla Ramakrishnan
101. D. S Teron, Karbi Anglong, Assam
102. Jinee Lokaneeta, South Asia Solidarity Initiative, New York
103. D.W.Karuna Miryam, Ph.d student Delhi University
104. Pamchuila Hungyo
105. Dilip Simeon
106. Pradip Esteeves
107. Tanya Suri
108. Richa Minocha, Himachal Pradesh
109. Sangeeta Chatterji
110. Shraddha Chickerur
111. Rohini Hensman (writer and social activist)
112. Crea
113. Women Against Militarization and State Violence Programme, The Other Media
114. . Indigenous Women Forum For North East India (IWFNEI)
115. All Tripura People & Minority Association
116. . Naga Mother’s Association (NMA)
117. Sushmita Kashyap,
118. Neikesanuo Sorhie
119. Jagori
120. Leena ganesh
121. Bondita Acharya
122. Seno Tsuhah,Chizami Village,Nagaland.
123. Uddipana Goswami
124. Rahi Foundation, Delhi
125. Niti Saxena, Lucknow
126. Sandeep pandey
127. Arundhati Dhuru
128. Dr. Ritu Dewan, CWDS, Mumbai
129. Anu Pilay
130. Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, (MASUM)& National Convenor (PACTI) Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
131. Dr Walter Fernandez, Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre, Guwahati, Assam, India
132. Vinod Raina
133. Sweta Kujur
134. Mahadev Hansda
135. Govid Kelkar
136. Shelly J Kerketta, Ranchi
137. Dr Nitya Rao, Senior Lecturer, Gender and Development, UK
138. Flavia Agnes
139. Majlis
140. ambarish rai, lok sangharsh morcha
141. Madhumita Dutta, Chennai
142. Dr. Sewli Kumar, TISS
143. Indigenous Womens Resource Centre (IWRC)
144. Soma K.P
145. Sudha Vasan
146. Enakshi Ganguly, Haq
147. Chander Uday Singh, Advocate
148. Sama-
149. Sujata Madhok
150. albo rai.
151. Subhash Mendhapurkar, SUTRA, Jagjit Nagar
152. Dr. Apoorvanand, DU, Dept. of Hindi
153. James Lang
154. Harishwar Dayal
155. Kavita Srivastava, PUCL
156. Sandhya Gautam, Himachal Pradesh
157. Parul Chaudhary
158. National Forum for Single Women’s Rights
159. Jyotsna Singh, Student, Asian College of Journalism
160. Tamil Nadu Women’s Forum
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
Reporting a rape in the city
So, everything happens in the night. And, mostly around areas which are commonly held unsafe. I’m going over the reports of the most recent gangrape in the capital which happened in and around Mangolpuri after the victim had been abducted from Dhaula Kuan. My intentions are simple: figuring out how newspaper reports have a way of saying out things, louder than they intend to.
I take here the Hindustan Times of November 26 2010, Page 3.
The headline screams Gangraped in the capital and after that a quote: ‘The victim was raped atleast eight times.’
In a blurb in the middle of the reports under this umbrella headline, the following facts about the ‘case’ were written out in bullet points:
– the accused did not call each other by their names.
– they were all shabbily dressed and were in the age group of 20-25 years. One of them had a cloth tied on his forehead.
– All of them spoke in Hindi with a Haryanavi accent.
– They were almost certain of the routes they had to take.
– there was no number plate on the rear of the pick-up van.
– Though Dhaula Kuan is the main checkpoint for goods vehicles no one checked this pick-up van.
-She was raped both when the van was in motion and after they reached their hideout.
– Though she was abducted at 1.10 am, the first call to the police was made at 1.26am.
Somehow, the ‘victim’ having been raped multiple times has been reiterated in at least five different ways all through the reports. “Even after going through so much, she mustered the courage and tried to ascertain her location…”
he victim being a ’30 year old BPO employee from Mizoram who was abducted near Moti Bagh’ finds mention in the first paragraph of the first report.
“Police said the victim and her colleague were being dropped at the same spot for the past three years… the victim, works in a Gurgaon BPO, had come to the capital three years ago and was staying with her sister in a rented accommodation in Moti Village near Dhaula Kuan…
An NGO which works for the welfare of northeast people, the Northeast Helpline, demanded that a separate helpline be set up by police with an officer, preferably from the northeast region, heading it.”
The racist undertones to the event and its reporting, I am sure, is not lost on anyone who reads it, what with the victim from ‘the Northeast’ and the rapists who speak in a ‘Haryanavi accent.’
The question I’de want to ask is, does the crime become bigger because the victim has been gangraped, turn by turn, not once, twice, but eight times?
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I QUOTE: The racist undertones to the event and its reporting, I am sure, is not lost on anyone who reads it, what with the victim from ‘the Northeast’ and the rapists who speak in a ‘Haryanavi accent.’
The question I’de want to ask is, does the crime become bigger because the victim has been gangraped, turn by turn, not once, twice, but eight times?
In an effort to sound politically correct you are sounding like an ignoramus. from what you have written the racist undertone is not visible/audible anywhere( i am questioning your writing because the HT report is not here). the reference to accent is to identify the rapists( sometimes it is not successful as the rapists put on an accent). (as an important aside, i must add that my experience has shown that cops who investigate rape cases sound like rapists, or at least potential rapists.) that is why the number of custodial rapes is quite high but under-reported. second, nivedita in her post, and several other organizations have pointed out how women from the north-east are “looked at” (again, nothing racist about stating this fact of objectification of the body). those men are racists, who think of them as “easily available”. let me suggest a book on racism to clear your clouded mind—- RACISM BY ALI RATTANSI (OUP). I THINK ALL READERS OF KAFILA SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.
second, you know nothing about haryana, its society, and men. khap panchyats and female foeticide reflect a male-dominated society based on brutal violence. come with me to the villages of haryana, and i will show you certain eye-openers you cannot even imagine— conversations with daughters, sisters, and wives who are raped by all the male members of a family!!!!
furthermore, let me demolish your statement logically.if someone says a british woman was raped and murdered by someone who sounded like a goanese–according to your words this has racist undertone. this is the silliest thing i have ever read on rape. i have worked on violence against women for almost a decade, and i am completely aghast at your ignorance about the nature of trauma a woman undergoes who is raped once, and someone who is raped again and again (sometimes for months). to me it seems that you have never spoken to a woman who has been raped. of course, you are right the crime does not become bigger or smaller, but the trauma of gangrape is entirely different from being raped once. amazon it/google it and you will find enough personal life-histories of both. even your presentation of the HT report lacks general syntactical coherence. perhaps this is why, your state of nonsensical confusion is sounding progressive.
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a rose cellar, please note that any further comments using invectives like the ones you have used will be deleted without explanation. You are compleltely at liberty to contest any position in any way you want but calling people names is not on. Sometimes when we Kafila-ites are called names we can decide to still publish them for the record but if you hurl invectives at other commentators, it implicates us as well if we approve them.
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my prayer goes out 4 d 30 yr old victim. Tis is a tragedy. My frens, brothers n sisters 4m northeast..be cautious n stay away 4m dangers. Letz stay united 4 da sake of al da victims. Hope, d culprits get arresstd n punishd as per d law.
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