The Weekly
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 14
BRIEFS
Trafficked Nepali girls rescued from India 300 girls rescued from brothels every year.
Page 2 Slum dwellers denied homes as local leaders demand bribes. 350 families living in sheds as local goons occupy land.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Two months after suicide, family awaits justice as suspended cops still on the run EXCLUSIVE Shruti Suresh
T
hree police officers accused of beating an auto driver to death are still on the run - two months after the victim hanged himself. A post mortem report on Pradeep Ehearanna, 27, obtained by the Weekly Observer, details almost a dozen different and significant injuries on his body. Pradeep allegedly hanged himself at home as he could no longer cope with the beatings meted out by three police officers at Kempegowda Police Station, according to his family. His grieving father also claim they paid the cops a
Page 3 Transgenders face assault by male prisoners Lack of separate cells for transgenders post Supreme Court verdict.
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C.D. Nagaraj, the absconding inspector.
Rs 10,000 bribe to have Pradeep released from custody. Eight weeks after his death, the family is still fighting for answers and senior police officers have failed to track down the three accused, who fled the station and have not been seen since. Pradeep committed suicide on August 23, unable to bear torture meted out to him by three policemen at Kempegowdanagar Police Station. The post-mortem report obtained by the Weekly Observer states that he had ten deep injuries on his face, arms and legs. He was beaten up throughout his detention in police custody. Pradeep’s twin brother, Sandeep, said: “He was arrested by the KG Nagar police and was tortured by them. Three of them were involved and they are absconding. We are fighting for justice.” The report states there were sharp marks on his neck and behind his ears where he was hit. There were also deep bruises on his arms, thighs and buttocks. He was hit on his chin and behind his ears. According to Sandeep, they are fighting a legal case against the three policemen who beat up Pradeep. According to Pradeep’s father, Ehearanna the police demanded and received Rs. 10,000 from his family on August 21 for his release and also demanded Rs. 5,000
Pradeep who committed suicide in August after abuse by policemen at K.G. Nagar station from his employer. A tenant in Pradeep’s building, Sudha said: “I have been living here for the past six years. The lady on the first floor accused Pradeep of trying to rape her. She had moved in only two days before that incident while her husband had moved in 15 days back. The claims were not true. We have known Pradeep and his family for long. There was a misunderstanding.” Pradeep had apparently gone to tell his tenant, a woman, who has now vacated the flat, not to accumulate garbage on his building’s terrace. Misunderstanding his approach when her husband was not at home, the woman filed a complaint that he tried to sexually assault her. Sandeep said: “We have the post-mortem reports from the Victoria Hospital. The reports show that he
was tortured while in the police station. The three men accused Inspector C.D. Nagaraj and two constables Prathap Kumar and Manjunath are still absconding.” C.D. Nagaraj has applied for anticipatory bail which he hadn’t got, and he has been on the run since the time he was suspended. Commissioner of Police, M.N. Reddi said, “We are trying to trace them and a couple of teams have been assigned to trace them. We will double up the effort. I have no idea about the case as it is being handled by the Joint Commissioner and the area DCP.” When questioned about the absconding police officers and the action of police for the past two months, the DCP of South Zone, Lokesh Kumar, said, “The investigation is still on, the absconding police officers have not been found.”
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Tuesday, October 21, 2014
The Weekly Observer
300 trafficked Nepali victims rescued in India every year Rescue foundation says victims locked up, starved and gang-raped Sreemoyee Chatterjee Three hundred trafficked girls from Nepal, forcibly jailed in hidden cells of Indian brothels, are being rescued annually. Ghazala, the coordinator of NGO Rescue Foundation, said, “The victims are locked up for days, starved, beaten, burnt with cigarettes and gang-raped till they learn how to serve unto 25 clients a day.” She added, “Apart from brothels, the trafficked victims are hidden in private hotels and beauty parlors in the city to misguide the police.” About 5000 to 7000 girls from Nepal are being trafficked every year to the red light areas in Indian cities, reveal the rescue team records of Rescue Foundation. Radhika, 19 (name changed), one of the rescued victims, said: “It becomes easy for the traffick-
ers to traffic women, girls and children along the 1740-mile long open border between India and Nepal. Trafficking of Nepali girls is far less risky than smuggling narcotics, electronic equipments and arms to India.” Rani, 22 (name changed), another survival of human trafficking, said: “The traffickers ferried us through the border without any paper work or police interference. We were bought for only Rs. 5000 from Nepal and sold in Indian market at a much higher rate of Rs. one lakh.” Ghazala said: “These girls are not allowed to leave the brothels till they have repaid debts that they incur at the time of their sickness. Most of the victims become patients of HIV, tuberculosis and often give birth to children.” “Our rescue team undergoes a procedure of identi-
fying and verifying the missing girls, followed by their rescue and rehabilitation. The brothels and private hotels are raided by our rescue team and the victims are brought under the care of our protective homes. They are then taken to the hospital for age verification after our doctors examine them. Those suffering from any illness are given medicines and consultation”, she added. Rani said, “Most of us suffer from sexually transmitted diseases. Those who are suffering from HIV are given special consultation and rich food with fruits and milk so that we don’t get weak, and develop resistance against the infection instead.” Ghazala said: “We train the girls in different income-generating skills such as tailoring, embroidery, crafts, vocational training, drawing, etc. Most of them
Cop, father of 3, dies in hit-and-run on NICE Road Tushar Kaushik
Rescue site in a brothel come from poor families and they need to work and earn to lead a better life.” Rescue Foundation provides legal aid to the rescued survivors. “We file suits in the court against the brothel keepers who forced the victims to prostitution. Legal aid includes legal counseling, training the girls for court procedure by arranging for mock trials, and producing them as witnesses in courts”, said Ghazala.
Women pushed into trafficking and rescued by the Rescue foundation in Mumbai.
A head constable from Talaghattapura police station was killed in a road accident on NICE road last night. Manjunath’s body was taken to Rajarajeshwari hospital, where a lot of colleagues had gathered. His relatives were also there waiting for the postmortem report. They were too upset to comment. According to Lakshamma, a police constable and Manjunath’s colleague from the same police station, the accident occurred at 10.45 pm last night, and Manjunath died on the spot. Talking about his last hours, she said: “He hadn’t been home for three days because he was busy with work. He was supposed to leave the office today morning, but then asked for permission to leave last night itself, and said his kids were missing him. So he left last night itself.” Lakshamma also said that Manjunath was riding his 2-wheeler when he was struck by a cement carrier, according to eye-witness reports. The police have no leads until now regarding the identity of that vehicle. Manjunath is survived by his wife, three children a one-year-old boy and two girls, and his mother. Dr. Pradeep, the forensic professor at Rajarajeshwari hospital, said that the post mortem report will take two days to come out, due to the holidays.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
The Weekly Observer
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The sheds where the slum dwellers are living now while they wait for their new homes
Bribe the local leaders or stay homeless Elizabeth Mani Saheli Sen Gupta Local leaders are demanding bribes for free apartments allocated by a government slum eradication program. While slum dwellers struggle to find the Rs. 25,000 demanded by these leaders for what should be a free government apartment, local goons are growing cannabis on the site of their former homes.
In 2009, the slum dwellers of Ragigudda were evacuated by the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) to build apartments. Each family was given a sheds as a temporary shelter and they were promised new homes within a year. However, it took three years for 1,150 families out of the evacuated 1,500 to move into the new apartment buildings - and only after bribing the local lead-
ers. Even now, 350 families are still living in sheds as they cannot afford the amount required to bribe the leader. Some of these families have moved to rented houses for the time being. Sudha, 28, works as a domestic help and pays Rs. 500 every month for a one room house. She said, “It is small and cramped with five members of the family living there. The leader doesn’t care about our situ-
Cannabis plants planted by the local goons in the area.
ation and comes only when authorities visit to see the progress of the buildings.” A 30-year-old housewife, Meena, one member of the 350 families, said, “The leader says the houses are not ready and should be ready in the next two or three years. We are suffering a lot in the sheds as we don’t have proper sanitation facility and also have to pay for drinking water.” A 45-year-old domestic help, Lakshmi, added, “If we could pay the money to the leader, he would have given us our apartment. And if we complain about the leaders, we may not get our houses.” Local goons have used the cleared space to harvest cannabis plants. Dozens of the plants can be easily seen growing where the slum dwellers once lived and many of the area's youth are now addicted to it, according to concerned locals. A 26-year-old domestic help, Vimala said, “My husband has become addicted
to cannabis and refuses to go to work.” Another resident, Vasantha said, “My 25-year-old son is badly addicted and stays out of the house. He is married but doesn’t take care of his wife or the family.” For a flat on the ground floor, these leaders demand at least Rs. 20,000 and prices go up to Rs. 25,000. Another resident, Nagamma, said, “The minimum amount to get a house on the higher floors is Rs. 5,000.” Sumathi, another resident said, “Our leaders own at least 20 to 30 houses which they sell to non-residents. I recently delivered a baby and cannot climb stairs. I don’t have so much money and it will be very difficult if they give me a house on the fifth floor.” Balhinda, one of the construction workers building the apartment, said, “The buildings are supposed to be five floors as per the instructions of the area leaders and engineers.”
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Tuesday, October 21 2014
The Weekly Observer
Raped and abused in Bangalore prison Transgender hell inside Bangalore jails Sreemoyee Chatterjee No separate cells have been provided for transgenders in Bangalore prisons, in violation of a Supreme Court verdict. The Supreme Court verdict passed on April 15, 2014 called for the provision of separate cells and toilets for the transgendered community in correction homes and prisons. Akkai Padmashali, a transgender rights activist, said: “Police don’t respect our privacy. We are randomly picked up from public places, beaten up, sexually harassed and compelled to stay with the male prisoners who often molest and abuse us.” Transgendered people are picked up by police on false allegations of theft, robbery and extortion from the streets of Bangalore and are forced to share cells with other male convicts in jail, reveal the records of Sangama, an organization dedicated to helping minority groups.
Ruksan (name changed), a transgender who was picked up from Majestic bus depot on false charges of theft, was kept in a cell with four other male convicts. She said: “I was sexually tortured throughout the night by the male inmates. They abused me and did not allow me to eat and drink. When I complained to the inspector, he blatantly said that I deserved it.” Roshni (name changed), another transgender, said: “Police often charge fines or ask for bribes for no reason. When we refuse to pay, they charge us with false allegations of theft and harassing the public and keep us with male convicts in the same cell.” Dilfaraz, the coordinator of Samara, an NGO working for the rights of transgender and sexual minorities, said: “Transgenders are kidnapped, raped, molested and cruelly beaten up just because they are an exception to the natural order of sexual identity.
Akkai Padmashali, renowned transgender activist, at a protest campaign This is not a crime. Yet, they are punished and harassed by both police and male inmates in the prison. No legal actions are taken against the offenders.” Sana, a transgender working as a program associate in Equation, a tourism-based research organization, said: “Recently, one of my fellow protestors was raped by the police in a
Akkai Padmashali with seven other transgender activists
Madhya Pradesh prison. There have been instances when the police allowed the male convicts to torture the transgenders, both mentally and physically. Despite this, it is unfortunate that Karnataka Government has not yet implemented the Supreme Court verdict.” Sonica, a transgender working as a counselor in Family Planning Association, said: “We have been arranging for long term protests in demand for separate cells and toilets in prisons as well as public places because we are not treated as human beings by the society. We had a consultation in August regarding this issue. People never accept the ‘third gender’ community as a part of this society.” She added: “The government hasn’t paid any heed to our voices yet. We are being humiliated and
molested not only in public but also in police custody.” Padmashali said: “Banashankari Police Station arrested 35 transgender activists who were demonstrating against the social stigma and were imprisoned with male criminals a few years back. They were mercilessly beaten up and sexually harassed by the police as well as the male convicts.” Jayasimha, DIG of Parappana Agrahara Prison, Bangalore, when asked about the implementation of separate cell and toilet allocation for the transgenders in prison, said: “Who the hell are you to ask me this, Madam? I am not in a position to answer you”. Nagaraja, a police constable at the Upparpet Police Station, confirmed that there are no separate cells for transgenders in the station.
OBSERVER Team: Editor - Samreen Tungekar, Chief Sub Editor - Saheli Sen Gupta, News Editor - Soumya Chatterjee, Sub Editors - Sameer Deshpande, Vignesh S.G., News Desk - Tushar Kaushik, Design Head - Sreemoyee Chatterjee Design Desk - Shruti Suresh, Picture Editor Shalini Raja, Reporters - C.L. Ramakrishnan, Elizabeth Mani, Suharika Rachavelpula