Volume 15 | Issue 21
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Murder accused priests still serve holy mass Irien Joseph Raina Paul The accused priests in the murder of Fr K J Thomas are still celebrating mass in different churches across Karnataka. Fr K J Thomas, the 63-yearold rector of St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary, Malleshwaram, was murdered on March 31, 2013. The Yeshwantpur police filed the first charge-sheet on June 17, 2014, naming three accused, Fr Elias Daniel, Fr William Patrick and a layman called Peter. On November 27, a second chargesheet was filed that named seven people as accused: Fr A Thomas, Fr Anbu John, Fr I Anthappa, Fr Anthony Prasad, Rita Rini, Fr Chowrappa Selvaraj, and Raphael Raj. None of the accused have been arrested yet and they are free to serve mass in their respective churches, despite protests from the dead priest’s family. Church authorities have refused to take action against the accused and they are involved in various activities of the church. Fr I Anthappa, the senior most Kannada priest at Clergy Home, said: “We are all innocent. Fr Patrick and Fr Elias Daniel are also innocent, they
are put behind bars for no reason. "I don’t know anything and I don’t even know Fr K J Thomas. If I haven’t done anything, why should I prove myself innocent? “We went to the jail ourselves to know the truth and the arrested priests have given us a letter stating that we are innocent.” Thomas Mathew, nephew of Fr Thomas, said: “This is going to be big trouble for the church as this is the first time a charge-sheet has been submitted in the court accusing priests for their direct involvement in a murder. The fact is that K J Thomas is no more, but the priests who are accused should be removed from the ministry.” Presently, the accused Fr Chowrappa Selvaraj is serving as parish priest at St Joseph’s Church in Chamrajpet. He is also the principal of St Joseph’s High School. The other accused Fr Anbu John serves as parish priest at Sacred Heart Church in Silvepura. Thomas Mathew said, “The reason for Fr Thomas’s death was due to linguistic rivalry. He got involved in the fight between Kannada priests association and the Tamil group. Both Tamilians and Kannadigas claimed that the seminary belonged to them. Fr K J Thomas
Suspects in the murder of Fr KJ Thomas June 2014: Fr William Patrick arrested, lodged in Parappana Agrahara prison, Bengaluru
BRIEFS Lost and found: postcode lottery of state’s missing kids A child missing in Bangalore is 15 times more likely to be traced than a child in the rest of Karnataka, according to crime records. Page 2
Tracks caused cracks as residents told: don’t come back
June 2014: Fr Elias Daniel arrested, lodged in the same prison
Beds, mattresses and furniture are lying outside homes in Balepet after residents were asked to evacuate at short notice due to metro tunnel boring.
November 2015: Fr I Anthippa accused of murder in the second charge-sheet
Page 2
got into the tug of war between these two communities.” “Fr Thomas never let any of these priests get involved in matters relating to the seminary and did not give access to
Government doctors forced to work without pay any of the documents. The accused priests wanted the property and Fr Thomas was an obstacle. So they cleared him out of their way.
contd. on page 3
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY, December 10
Students in government medical colleges under the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute have either not been paid the revised stipend or have not been paid at all. Page 3
The fight for human rights On International Human Rights Day, The Observer explores real stories from Bangalore – of everyday battles for survival against all odds. Photo courtsey: Parvathi Benu
More on Page 4…
Healthcare will improve when politicians are forced to use it, says NGO lawyer On International Human Rights Day, we unravel stories of men and women in Karnataka that highlight how humans here battle for theirs. Page 4
2 THE OBSERVER
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Tracks caused cracks as residents told: don’t come back
(Left) Barricaded roads in the locality, (Right) Cracks in shop walls were caused by the tunnel boring, say residents in Balepet Payal Gangishetty Beds, mattresses and furniture are lying outside homes in Balepet after residents were asked to evacuate at short notice due to metro tunnel boring. Affected residents, mainly traders, complained that authorities provided them a lodge but no compensation for the losses they faced in business. Their belongings were forcefully taken out by metro officials, they alleged. Seven houses have been forcefully evacuated and 15 more houses have received notice to quit in the coming week, according to residents.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has already issued evacuation notices to the 15 houses who have agreed to move out until the time the tunnel boring machines pass through. The work started in the last week of October. Raghavendra, a Balapet resident, said: “Due to the work in progress, I am forced to shut down my shop for the last one month. It is my only source of income.” He runs a trading shop on the ground floor of a threestorey building. He said: “We were asked to vacate the house for three days but since October 26, we
have been staying in a lodge.” He said that the metro authorities are paying only for the lodging. He asked: “What about the expenses on food and losses incurred due to the tunnel machine? The tunnel boring ma-
Laxmi V, a resident
Lost and found: postcode lottery of state’s missing kids Regina Gurung A child missing in Bangalore is 15 times more likely to be traced than a child in the rest of Karnataka, according to crime records. One reason for this is lack of rescue teams outside Bangalore, say NGOs. In 2013 and 2014, 6880 children were reported missing in the state, out of which only six per cent were traced, according to the report Union Home Ministry. In Bangalore during the same period, 92 per cent of the 2426 missing children were traced, according to data from the City Crime
Nagasimha G. Rao, Director of Child Rights Trust
Records Bureau. Jostin Kha, assistant coordinator, Missing Children Bureau, said: “The reason for this is that there are hardly any rescue teams like BOSCO, Sathi, ASPA,etc, in other parts of Karnataka . There are organisations in Bangalore that monitor areas like railways and bus stops. “Street children are reported to the Child Welfare Committee.” M Venugopala, Assistant Commissioner of Police, agreed with the stats, and said: “The reason why missing children are traced efficiently in Bangalore is because the Bangalore police takes interest. “All seven divisions are efficient and alert. They coordinate with NGOs and hold monthly meetings to provide directions.” He added: “The efficiency improves because Bangalore is technically advanced as compared to other parts of Karnataka.” Dhanalakshmi, a woman constable, said, “In Bangalore, NGOs and the police work together organising special drives such as Operation Smile and
Muskan. “Also, the Women and Child Empowerment department has come up with a software called Track Child that eases tracking operations. “In India, we lack proper counsellors, laws and rehabilitation centers for runaways,” said Nagasimha G. Rao, Director of Child Rights Trust, Bangalore. Rao believes that runaway children account for most of the missing in the list. Between 2013-2014, India reported 2,38,673 missing children.
Children who go missing are usually found safe – in city
chine created cracks on the tiles in my shop and the chemicals damaged my stocks worth thousands of rupees. "I have a five-month-old baby girl, and it is getting difficult to feed and take care of her.” Mahender, another trader, said: "For past three months, the road has been barricaded on both sides. Due to which regular customers also stopped coming, and sales have dropped.” Laxmi V, another resident, said that her son has to walk a longer distance to catch his school bus. She said that officials should have assessed the possible damage to buildings before
starting work. Kedar, another shopkeeper in Balepet, said that sometimes, there are huge vibrations due to the machine. “It seems like an earthquake,” he said. "It's been almost 10 days that the boring machine has moved 50 feet forward, but the equipment and barricades are not removed by the authorities, due to excessive dust all the materials in our shop spoilt Kiran who runs a shop. A BMRCL engineer working in the area said that after evacuation, compensation was provided to residents, including lodging.
Three charged over city murder Sanskriti Talwar Maqsood Maniyar Three men who are believed to have murdered a handicapped person in Ramiah layout have been arrested. Police said that on May 28, this year, the three men – Madhu, Vanshi and Ram Kumar alias Nani – all of them aged 25 – visited polio affected R. Raju on the pretext of wanting to rent a house in his four storied building. They also claimed that Madhu, a property broker,spoke to Raju’s mother on the first floor whilst the remaining two men along with Raju went to see a vacant house on the third floor where Raju was bound, gagged and strangled by the three men. All three of them then fled. After a while Raju’s family got suspicious so his sister went to check on him and found him dead on the floor. The gold chain and ring that Raju was wearing were missing.It is alleged that the motive for murder was a dispute over money between Madhu and Raju. The accused who had been absconding are originally from
Chittor district in Andhra Pradesh. They have been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention and them being liable for that act equally). Now the Banaswadi police are looking for Babaji and Anji who are also from Andhra Pradesh. They are suspected to have committed crimes with Madhu’s help in the past.
R. Raju, who was murdered by three men
Thursday, December 10, 2015 3
THE OBSERVER
Government doctors forced to work without pay Aparajita Khandelwal Students in government medical colleges under the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute have either not been paid the revised stipend or have not been paid at all They claim they have been tending to the city’s sick without pay, existing on handouts from relatives, for the past four months. Students from all over the state staged a strike on August 31 to demand a hike in their stipend. The strike was called off on September 9 after the minister for medical education assured that he would take up the issue. A cabinet decision in late September revised the stipend from Rs.15, 000 to Rs.20, 000 for house surgeons, Rs.25, 000 to Rs.40, 000 for post graduates and Rs.30, 000 to Rs.50, 000 for super speciality residents. However, an orthopaedics house surgeon in Victoria Hospital, who did not want to be named, said that they have not been paid their stipends for the past four months.
Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister of Medical Education
A paediatric resident doctor of Bowring Hospital said: “Doctors in some departments like paediatrics have received the hiked stipend. However, several other departments like general medicine have not received it. “House surgeons have not been paid their normal stipend for the past four months let alone the increased stipend. Half of the super speciality postgraduates also haven't got the revised stipend.” A spokesperson for the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) said: “Last month we got the hiked stipend like other colleges in Karnataka. “But this month, due to lack of funds from the government and because it is the year end, the director is unable to pay our stipends. "Every year for BMC Rs.120-130 crore is sanctioned and he has requested more funds from the government which will be used to pay the stipend as arrears early next year.” Another member said: “All other colleges in Karnataka have paid the medical students the revised stipend, except Bangalore Medical College. “The government order said that from October 1, the extra money from the funds allocated to autonomous institutes will be used to pay for the increased stipend. “Only 30 per cent of the doctors have received the new revised stipend. And the director wants to deduct this increased amount from next month’s old-scale stipend of these 30 per cent doctors. “Our director wants us to go to the finance department to demand more funds but why
Medical students from all over the state staged a strike from August 31 to demand a hike in their stipend should we run from pillar to post every time? We are students and this is not out job. We are planning to meet the finance department with our director on Friday. “We used to get our salary by the 25th of every month. Now it makes it difficult for many of us to pay back loans and EMIs at the beginning of the month. “We are forced to depend on our siblings and parents, even at the age of 28-30, pursuing masters and super speciality,” he added. Students met the minister of medical education, Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, on Thursday to discuss this. A spokesperson of KARD said: “The minister said that he will see to it that we get the old-scale stipends. But, the revised stipend cannot be paid as the decision was taken in the middle of the year
and the funds are sanctioned in the beginning of the year. “He said that even he has written to the finance department and the delay is only till the additional budget is sanctioned We have given a letter that says that we will wait till January second week and will
be forced to stop working if no positive action is not taken.” The dean at Bangalore Medical College declined to comment. A spokesman for the Health Minister said he was unavailable.
We used to get our salary by the 25th of every month. Now it makes it difficult for many of us to pay back loans and EMIs at the beginning of the month. We are forced to depend on our siblings and parents, even at the age of 28-30, pursuing a master’s and super specialty degree. - A medical student
Murder accused priests still serve mass contd. from page 1 "The family members of Fr Thomas have sent a letter addressed to the Papal Nuncio to India, Archbishop Salvatore Pennachio, and Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, the highest decision-making body for priests at the Vatican. “No action has been taken against the accused by the church claiming that Indian law does not have a clause for punishing them.” He added, “The members of the Kannada Priests Association protested against the arrest of the two priests, Fr William Patrick, and Fr Elias Daniel. They collected
Rs.60,000 for releasing the arrested priests. “Even when the arrested priests were brought to the court, people were lined up to seek their blessings. All these are giving wrong signals to the faithful.” Fr Thomas was a born Malayali, worked and studied in Ooty. For the past 25 years, he worked in Karnataka and had worked in three different states. In a statement made by Fr William Patrick, he apparently confessed to the police. According to him, Fr Elias Daniel accompanied by Francis, Swamy and Peter were present at the time of the murder. Fr William Patrick said:
“Francis with an iron rod in his hand broke open the door of the main entrance and we all went inside, but did not get the papers required by us. We took the key hung on the nail and opened the museum room. There also we did not get any papers. “Later we went to the left side of the corridor and with the hammer brought by Francis tried to open the room. We heard someone coming out of the next room, it was Fr K J Thomas. He started shouting upon seeing us. “Fr Elias with an iron rod hit Fr K J Thomas behind his head and also hit his face with his fist. Blood started oozing from his nose, his mouth and behind
his head. He tried to escape to his room, but I went behind him and caught hold of his cassock and he fell down. I stamped the chest of Fr K J Thomas and hit him with the brick. “Later I went to Fr Thomas room and brought a towel. I tore it into two pieces and with one peace I strangled his neck.” The archbishop Bernard Moras is overseeing the case and has given full support to find the culprits. He has also faced allegations from the Kannada Priests Association for targeting the Kannada speaking priests. The Catholic Church diocesan office declined to comment on this issue.
Fr K J Thomas, who was murdered in March, 2013
4 THE OBSERVER
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Healthcare will improve when politicians are forced to use it, says NGO lawyer Reema Mukherjee On International Human Rights Day, we unravel stories of men and women in Karnataka that highlight how humans here battle for theirs. Public Health Centres in Karnataka are turning away critical patients owing to lack of basic facilities. According to surveys conducted by the Society for People’s Action for Development (SPAD), out of the 204 women who were interviewed, 93.8 per cent who were referred to Vani Vilas hospital after they went into labour experienced horrific treatment resulting in stress, expenses and many other problems. According to the World Health Organisation the “highest attainable standard of health” is a fundamental right of every human being. Aarthi, 27, had to run from pillar to post for her delivery. She had to go to four hospitals before being treated in Vani Vilas Hospital (VVH). Her mother, narrating the ordeal, said, “We went to Nelamangala Taluk hospital who referred us to VVH because her first delivery was a caesarean which could give rise to complications. “Because of the rush at VVH we went to Rajarajeshwari Medical College, where there were no incubators or supply of her blood type. So, we went to BGS hospital, but after exam-
@Independent Britain is leading the charge against basic human rights, Amnesty claims #Humanrightsday http://ind.pn/1mcaImy
According to the World Health Organisation, the “highest attainable standard of health” is a fundamental right of every human being ining the reports they said that the costs would be high. Then we went to KIMS hospital. There, they said they would need to do a C-section, but they didn't have an ICU for the baby. So finally, we returned to VVH.” A case study conducted by Sadhana, a non-profit organisation, gives an account of the ordeal of Ranimma, 35, from
Ravi Prasad (name changed), a speech-impaired patient with mild mental disorder
Mysore, who was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophegus. She was operated on and was given radiation and chemotherapy at Kidwai hospital. However, after two months, she was unable to swallow liquid food. She was then taken to Bharath Cancer Hospital, where the doctors refused to do anything and referred her to palliative care. She was again taken to K.R. hospital & admitted to J.S.S. hospital for insertion of a tube into her stomach, which would be used to feed her, but the procedure was not carried out. Even the local P.H.C. refused to help her with the catheterization. She died on November 21, 2015, at her home. In another case, which highlights the complacency of the healthcare system in our country, Manasa, who was pregnant with twins, (name changed to protect identity) said, “I had regular check-up in Shapur. We migrated to Kadubeesanahalli in search of work. Here, I got checked in KR Puram Taluk Hospital. When my labour started, I came to KR Puram hospital. The doctor delivered one baby and said that the second one had got crossed and referred me to VVH.” Another case: Ravi Prasad (name changed), 50, of K.M.Hundi, Mysore was daily wage labourer in Kadakola &
Mysore. He is married with two sons and a daughter. Unaware of his hypertension status, he had a fall and later found out that he had a speech & mild mental disorder. In a door-todoor visit in search of patients, he was found naked and confined to a dark room. He was being taken care of by his wife. For their livelihood, they were dependent on their two sons, however, three months ago their second son who was keen on continuing his father’s treatment, died due to a road accident. After his death, the family was unable to meet their day-today expenses as their first son refused to take care of them. The P.H.C’s doctors were requested to visit to the palliative care patients once a month for half a day, but they refused to visit their homes. The P.H.C.’s medical officer said that they have insufficient medicines for distribution to patients during home visits; therefore, they cannot provide the patients and their families with medicines. Satyajit Majumdar, a lawyer at Nyayika, a not-profit Centre for Social Justice, said, “It is unfortunate that government mechanism of health, education has broken down. The system needs to be re-looked at. Until the MPs and MLAs start availing the government services, things are not going to change.”
@unwomenasia On #HumanRightsDay we call 4 ending global pandemic of violence against Women&Girls http://ow.ly/UWVCZ #16days @UKLabou We oppose Cameron’s attempts to scrap #HumanRightsAct. Say why it matters to you → http://bit.ly/1Y1JQ4r #HumanRightsDay @apnnewsindia Veteran journalist Inderjit Badhwar discussing stark realities about #humanrights in India http://bit.ly/1RGev @indybad #HumanRightsDay @Telegraph Croatian human rights activist's trousers fall down during award ceremony http://www.telegraph.c o.uk/news/worldnews/ europe/croatia/120431 91/Croatian-humanrights-activists-trouser s-fall-down-duringaward-ceremony.html … #HumanRightsDay
THE OBSERVER Editor: Irien Joseph | News Editor: Prabhpreet Singh Sood | Chief Sub-Editor:Tanay Sukumar Picture Editor: Sutanu Guha | Layout Designer: Aditi Mallick & Reema Mukherjee | Social Media Manager: Mouli Shree Editing team: Aparajita Khandelwal, Maqsood Maniyar, Rishi Sabharwal,Sanskriti Talwar, Rajarshi Das, Akshaya N A, Laxmi Narayani | Desk Reporters: Oindrila Sarkar & Parvathi Benu Reporters: Payal Gangishetty, Regina Gurung, Mathew Joy Mathew, Raina Paul, Sana Husain, Ankita Sil