বন্ধুরা,আপনারা যারা এর আগেও হুগলি জেলার পোলবায় ঘটে যাওয়া ডাইনি সন্দেহে অত্যাচার বিষয়ে আগ্রহ দেখিয়েছিলেন এবং গত ১৭/০৮/২০১৩ তারিখে কলেজষ্ট্রীটে এই বিষয়ক সভায় উপস্থিত থেকে সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে সাহায্য করেছিলেন তাদের উদ্দেশ্যে পরবর্তী অবস্থার চিত্র তুলে ধরছি।
আমরা এক সচেতন প্রয়াস, হেতুবাদী এবং আরও কিছু ব্যক্তি মানুষের সহযোগিতায় শ্রী গোপাল মুর্মুর সাথে বাংলার মানবাধিকার সুরক্ষা মঞ্চ (মাসুম) এর যোগাযোগ ঘটানো সম্ভব হয়। এর পরেই মাসুম-এর বন্ধুরা বিষয়টিকে সর্বোচ্চ গুরুত্ত্বের সাথে বিবেচনা করে পশ্চিমবঙ্গ মানবাধিকার সুরক্ষা কমিশনে ঘটনাটি সম্পর্কে বিস্তারিত জানান এবং ব্যাবস্থা নিতে অনুরোধ করেন। সেই অভিযোগ পত্রের বিস্তৃত অংশ আপনাদের অবগতির জন্য তুলে ধরছি।
26 August 2013
To
The
Chairman
West
Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani
Bhaban
Alipur
Kokata
– 27
Respected Sir,
I
want to draw your kind attention on an incident of blaming a family of Schedule
Tribe; Santhal community, as involved in witchcraft and subsequently throwing
them out of their dwellings, looting of all belongings and gruesome violence
over the women of the family with sexual advances. The police not taken
appropriate actions, even registered an FIR where put the date of information
from victim family wrong and till date not relocated them to their own
dwelling, in the meantime all of their belongings were usurped by the
errant. The family of Mr. Gopal Murmu
was defamed as the family of Witch by
a section of villagers from the Hindu General Caste and a handful of from
Schedule Tribe Community with ulterior intention. Our fact finding report
provides the details of the whole incident.
On
the date of incident; 20th June at about 11 pm, the under mentioned
persons trespassed into victim’s house. The alleged them as Witch and started to assault them with
all brutality, while the victim family tried to protest against their false
allegations. The perpetrators molested and brutally assault the victim’s
daughter named Ms. Sajani Hasada after alleging her as witch. They were forcibly taken to one of the perpetrators house
and asked to make cure a child who was under some kind of psychological ailment
at that time. The perpetrators evicted the victims from their own house. The
victim lodged a written complaint before the Officer-In-Charge of Polba Police
Station on 21.06.2013. On next day the Officer-in-Charge of the said police
station asked the victim to mutually solve the issue instead of doing any investigation
over the incident.
The
complaint before the police dated 21.6.2013 was totally ignored and while the
Polba Police registered a FIR on 5.7.2012 (Polba Police Station Case No.
55/2013 dated 05.07.2013 under sections 147/149/148/223/354/427/379/504/506) of
Indian Penal Code they describe the date of information only on the said date,
which was suppression of fact on their part. It was further revealed that the
complaint shown with the FIR was tutored by the police station to make it mild.
The Polba Police purposefully ignored
the appropriate sections of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act 1989, while putting the sections of offence. The victim Mr.
Gopal Murmu lodged a written complaint before the Block Development Officer
informing the whole incident of physical torture and allegations as Witch upon them by the perpetrators on
25.06.2013. On 09.07.2013, Mr. Gopal
Murmu lodged a similar complaint before the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, the
District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Hooghly informing the
whole incident of physical torture and false allegations upon them by the
perpetrators. On 11.07.2013 the victim received a letter from the office of the
Sub-Divisional Officer where the Sub-Divisional Officer directed the
Officer-In-Charge; Polba Police Station vide Memo No- 1987/1(1)/S to cause an
enquiry and take appropriate action in accordance with law. But the
Officer-in-Charge failed to take any necessary action after getting the order
from the office of Sub-Divisional Officer, till date and the victim family is
still waiting to return at their own house. On 05.08.2013 the victim received a
letter from West Bengal Human Rights Commission where the Registrar of that
said commission directed Superintendent of police, Hooghly vide case No- 266/8/13-14/OC/351
to cause an enquiry and take appropriate action and submitted the report to him
within three weeks. But till date no such action has been taken.
Hence we seek your urgent intervention and
appending a detail of the incident herewith: -
The
incident must be investigated by an agency apart from Polba Police Station
The
victim family must be resettled at their own house and district and police
administration must be directed to ensure their full safety and security
The
proper charges of Schedule Caste and
Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and of Indian Penal Code
must be included in FIR
The
victim family must be duly compensated for their financial as well as social
loss
The
perpetrators must be arrested without any procedural delay and involvement of
Polba Police with the errant must be investigated
Sincerely Yours
(Kirity Roy)
Secretary- MASUM
Name of the victim: -
1) Mr. Gopal Murmu, son of- Late Chunu Murmu, aged about- 55 years 2) Ms.
Sajani Hasada, daughter of Mr. Gopal Murmu, aged about- 22 years 3) Ms. Hashi
Hasda, Niece of- Mr. Gopal Murmu all belong to Schedule Tribe community
(Santhal), and residing at Village- Rahimpur, Post Office- Mahanadh, Police
Station- Polba, District- Hooghly, West Bengal, India.
Name of the perpetrators: -
1) the police personnel of Polba Police Station. 2) Mr. Kartick Roy, son of-
Mr. Shaktipada Roy 3) Shibnath Patra, son of- Mr. Bhairab Patra 4) Mr. Mithun
Biswas, son of- Mr. Hare Krishna Biswas 5) Mr. Rajkumar Baidya, son of- Mr.
Dulal Baidya 6) Mr. Dulal Sarkar. Son of- Mr. Kanai Sarkar 7) Mr. Ruidas
Sarkar, son of- Mr. Hazari Sarkar 8) Mr. Bhodar Bera, son of – Mr. Nemai Bera
9) Mr. Ananta Mallick, son of- Mr. Kanai Mallick 10) Mr. Swapan Biswas, son of-
Mr. Hare Krishna Biswas 11) Mr. Anil Roy, son of- Mr. Budo Roy (all FIR named
accused number 2 to 11) and others of Dakshinpara, Post Office- Mahanadh,
Police Station- Polba, District- Hooghly, West Bengal, India.
Time and place of incident: - On
20.06.2013 at about 11 pm and so on
Place of occurrence: -
In the dwelling of the victims.
Case
details: -
It
is revealed during fact finding that Mr. Gopal Murmu and his family members are
belonging to the Schedule Tribe (Santhal) Community. On 20th June
2013 the victim and his family were inhumanly tortured by the caste Hindus and
few people of his own community with ulterior motives after blaming them as ‘Witch’. In this regard it must be
mentioned here that the family was on and often faced the situation of social
and community level isolation, 26 years ago i.e. in the year of 1987, the
victim and his family members were branded as Witch. On 18th July 1987, Late Bidhu Murmu; the mother
of Mr. Gopal Murmu, aged about 75 years at that time was branded as ‘Witch’ and demand was made for Rs.
10000. Subsequently all family members of Mr. Gopal Murmu were thrown away from
their own house by the village heads of the said village while they failed to
pay that amount.
The
recent incident was follow up of the event which started in the year of 2007,
when Mr. Rajkabi Murmu tried to make a club in front of the house of Mr. Gopal
Murmu and tried to include the victim’s land to the club. The victim informed
that whole incident to Mr. Nokul Soren, the then Prodhan (Head) of gram
panchayet (local self government) and he interfered to that issue and
successfully solved that issue for time being. The conspiracy was hatched
against the victim family at that time only. In the year of 2012, a section of
villagers termed Mr. Gopal Murmu’s elder daughter ; Ms. Rina Mandi, the wife of
Mr. Sanatan Mandi as ‘Witch’ and that
time also the whole matter was mutually solved by the victims’ family and the
involved villagers.
On
20.05.2013 at about 11pm the above mentioned perpetrators and other 50/60
involved people of Dakshinpara village suddenly attacked to the victims’ house
and told the family that the existence of the ‘Witch’ ‘Dain’ with his family and that with had an involvement with the
ill-health of Mr. Rajiv Baidya, son of Mr. Rajkumar Baidya. They broke the
glass pane of all windows of the victims’ house. They verbally abused them with
filthy languages and criminally trespassed into their house after breaking the
gate of the victims’ house and started to assault them by wooden sticks. Mr.
Gopal Murmu was seriously injured due to that brutal torture by the
perpetrators. The perpetrators damaged all house-hold articles took away Rs.
80,000/- cash and silver ornaments after breaking the ‘Almirah’. The
perpetrators unclothed Ms. Sajani Hasada, daughter of Mr. Gopal Murmu and
molest her during this savage act they forcibly pulled inner apparels from her
body and dragged her by the road for 1 km. Ms. Purnima Murmu; daughter in law
of Mr. Gopal Murmu tried to hide under the cot with her 10 months old baby but
the perpetrators not even spared her and her baby. The baby received serious
head injury due to the said physical aggression. The perpetrators brutally
assaulted and injured Mr. Bishnudeb Murmu, the youngest son of Mr. Gopal Murmu
while he tried to protect her from the hand of the perpetrators. The wife of
the victim was also brutally tortured in the hands of the perpetrators. The
perpetrators dragged and took the Mr. Gopal Murmu and other family members to
the house of Mr. Rajkumar Baidya at Dakhinpara village and there they came to
notice that an ‘Ojha’ was present
beside a baby of 8 yrs old named Master Rajiv Baidya, the son of Mr. Rajkumar
Baidya. The ‘Ojha’; Mr. Mongal Murmu
passed an order by stating that Ms. Sajani Hasda; the daughter of Mr. Gopal
Murmu as a witch and she is responsible for the ill-health of that child. She
tried to protest against his false allegations by stating that how would it be
possible and advised them to medically treat the baby. But the perpetrators
refused to hear her words and brutally assaulted her. Meanwhile Mr. Govinda
Murmu, the elder son of the victim who was in Chennai for his job came to know
about the whole incident and he made a call to Polba Police Station and
requested to the police personnel of the said police station to protect his family
members from the hands of the perpetrators. Mr. Dilip Hasda, the brother-in-law
of the victim and Mr. Bishnudeb Murmu successfully escaped from the house of
Mr. Rajkumar Baidhya and came in to the said police station to request the
police personnel to protect their family members from the hand of the
perpetrators. On the date of incident at 11.05pm, Ms. Sajani Hasda made a phone
call to Polba police station to inform when the perpetrators broke the gate of
the house of the victim, but the police personnel did not receive that call. On
the same day at 00.10 hours, the police personnel of that said police station
came to Dakhinpara village and rescued the victim and his family members from
the hand of the perpetrators at about 00.40 hours. The victim and his family
members afterwards took shelter to that said police station after police
provided them first aid at Polba Block Primary Health Centre.
On
21.05.2013 Mr. Gopal Murmu lodged a written complaint before the
Officer-In-Charge of Polba Police Station informing the whole incident of
physical torture and false allegations made against them, the said complaint
was diarised as General Diary No. 1155 dated 21.06.2013, but no FIR has been
registered.
On
22.06.2013 at about 6 pm, 150 caste Hindu villagers came to Polba police
station and met the Officer-in-Charge of the said police station and convinced
him for withdrawal of complaint and a settlement, the said Officer in Charge in
return asked the victim to accept their proposal. While the victim shown his reluctance;
the said Officer-in-Charge suggested for another date for mutual settlement.
On
25.06.2013 the victim lodged a written complaint before the Block Development
Officer, Polba Dadpur Block informing the whole incident of physical torture
and false allegations upon him and his family by the above mentioned
perpetrators. But the said authority failed to give proper to the victim and
his family members.
The
police personnel lodged a First Information Report vide Polba Police Station
Case No. 55/2013 dated 05.07.2013 under sections
147/149/148/223/354/427/379/504/506 of Indian Penal Code against the above
mentioned perpetrators after 14 days of that incident over an obtained and
doctored complaint from the victim; Mr. Gopal Murmu. The police personnel also
made a seizure list mentioning that the victim reclaimed three cycles, 15
packages of paddy and 70 packages of sunflower’s seeds.
On
09.07.2013 Mr. Gopal Murmu lodged a written complaint before the Sub-Divisional
Police Officer, the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police,
Hooghly informing the whole incident of physical torture.
On
11.07.2013 the victim received a letter from the officer of Sub-Divisional
Officer where the Sub-Divisional Officer directed the Officer-In-Charge, Polba
Police Station vide Memo No- 1987/1(1)/S to cause an enquiry and take
appropriate action in accordance to law.
On
05.08.2013 the victim received a letter from West Bengal Human Rights
Commission where the Registrar directed Superintendent of Police, Hooghly vide case
No- 266/8/13-14/OC/351 to cause an enquiry and take appropriate action and
submitted the report to him within three weeks. Till date the family members of
Mr. Murmu are in continuous threat.
Mr. Gopal Murmu after assault
Mr. Gopal Murmu, His son and relative at MASUM office
Polba PS received complaint on 21.06.2013 & diarised as GDE No. 1155
Polba PS registered the FIR on 5 July 2013, ignoring complaint dated 21 June
--
Kirity Roy
Secretary
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM)
&
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
40A, Barabagan Lane (4th Floor)
Balaji Place
Shibtala
Srirampur
Hooghly
PIN- 712203
Tele-Fax - +91-33-26220843
Phone- +91-33-26220844 / 0845
e. mail : kirityroy@gmail.com
Web: www.masum.org.in
আপনাদের অবগতির জন্য আরও জানাই এই বিষয়ে আরও কিছু অগ্রগতি সম্ভব হয়েছে এবং হচ্ছে। আগামি দিনে আপনাদের কাছে সম্পূর্ণ রুপে তার বিবরন পেশ করব।
ধন্যবাদান্তে,
আমরা এক সচেতন প্রয়াসের পক্ষে
অনুপম দাস অধিকারী
