Fact-finding
by
a Women's Panel
Syeda Hameed, Muslim Women?s Forum, Delhi
Ruth Manorama, National Alliance of Women,
Bangalore
Malini Ghose, Nirantar, Delhi
Sheba George, Sahrwaru, Ahmedabad
Farah Naqvi, Independent Journalist, Delhi
Mari Thekaekara, Accord, Tamil Nadu
Sponsored by
Citizen?s Initiative, Ahmedabad [India]
April 16, 2002
WITNESSING MASS RAPE (INCLUDING MINOR GIRLS)
NARODA PATIA, AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 28, 2002[3][3]
"The mob started chasing us with burning tyres
after we were forced to leave Gangotri
society. It was then that they raped many
girls. We saw about 8-10 rapes. We saw
them strip 16-year-old Mehrunissa.
They were stripping themselves and beckoning to
the girls. Then they raped them right there
on the road. We saw a girl?s vagina being slit
open. Then they were burnt. Now there is no
evidence."
Source: Kulsum Bibi, Shah e Alam Camp, March
27, 2002
"I saw Farzana being
raped by Guddu Chara. Farzana was about 13 years old. She
was a resident of Hussain Nagar. They put
a saria (rod) in Farzana?s stomach. She
was later burnt. 12 year old Noorjahan was
also raped. The rapists were Guddu,
Suresh and Naresh Chara and Haria. I also
saw Bhawani Singh, who works in the
State Transport Department kill 5 men and
a boy."
Source: Azharuddin, 13 years. He witnessed
the rapes while hiding on the terrace of
Gangotri Society. The Chara basti is located
just behind Jawan Nagar.
The mob, which came from Chara
Nagar and Kuber Nagar, started burning people at
around 6 in the evening. The mob stripped
all the girls of the locality, including my
22-year-old daughter, and raped them. My daughter
was engaged to be married. 7
members of my family were burnt including
my wife (aged 40), my sons (aged 18, 14
and 7) and my daughters (aged 2, 4 and 22).
My eldest daughter, who later died in the
civil hospital, told me that those who raped
her were wearing shorts. They hit her on
the head and then burnt her. She died of 80%
burn injuries.
Source: Abdul
Usman, Testimony recorded by Citizens Initiative
SULTANI, A RAPE survivor, SPEAKS
VILLAGE
ERAL, KALOL TALUKA, PANCHMAHALS DISTRICT,
FEBRUARY 28th, 2002[4][4]
On the afternoon of February 28th to escape
the violent mob, about 40 of us got on to
a tempo, wanting to escape to Kalol. My husband
Feroze was driving the tempo. Just
outside Kalol a Maruti car was blocking the
road. A mob was lying in wait. Feroze had
to swerve. The tempo overturned. As we got
out they started attacking us. People
started running in all directions. Some of
us ran towards the river. I fell behind as I was
carrying my son, Faizan. The men caught me
from behind and threw me on the ground.
Faizan fell from my arms and started crying.
My clothes were stripped off by the men
and I was left stark naked. One by one the
men raped me. All the while I could hear
my son crying. I lost count after 3. They
then cut my foot with a sharp weapon and left
me there in that state.
Source: Sultani, Kalol Camp, Panchmahals District,
March 30, 2002
Additional facts about the case:
· We had heard about Sultani?s case
from her relatives in Halol camp. The details and
sequence of events of both testimonies matched.
· Sultani has not undergone a medical
examination. Her leg had been swollen for three
weeks as a result of the injury inflicted
by a sharp weapon, but it is healing now.
· No FIR has been filed though a written
statement has been submitted to the DSP. In
her statement she names some men from the
mob (Jitu Shah, PDS Shop owner of
Delol village; Ashok Patel alias Don Dadhi
of Ramnath village)
· When we spoke with her and her sister-in-law
they both said they were feeling numb
and lost, as they did not know where to go
from the Camp. She categorically stated
that they could not go back to her village.
She was terribly worried about the future
especially her children?s. Sultani has still
not been told that her husband had died in the
attack. She believes he is missing.
A MOTHER?S ACCOUNT OF HER DAUGHTER?S RAPE
VILLAGE
ERAL, KALOL TALUKA , PANCHMAHALS DISTRICT. MARCH 3,
2002[5][5]
My father-in-law, a retired schoolteacher,
refused to leave the village with the other
Muslim families who fled to Kalol on February
28th. He believed no one would harm
us. From the 28th about 13 members of my family
sought refuge in various people?s
houses and the fields. On Sunday afternoon
(March 3rd) the hut we were hiding in was
attacked. We ran in different directions and
hid in the field. But the mob found some of
us and started attacking. I could hear various
members of my family shouting for mercy
as they were attacked. I recognized two people
from my village - Gano Baria and Sunil
- pulling away my daughter Shabana. She screamed,
telling the men to get off her and
leave her alone. The screams and cries of
Ruqaiya, Suhana, Shabana, begging for their
izzat could clearly be heard. My mind was
seething with fear and fury. I could do
nothing to help my daughter from being assaulted
sexually and tortured to death. My
daughter was like a flower, still to experience
life. Why did they have to do this to her?
What kind of men are these? The monsters tore
my beloved daughter to pieces. After a
while, the mob was saying "cut them to pieces,
leave no evidence." I saw fires being lit.
After some time the mob started leaving. And
it became quiet.
Source: Medina Mustafa Ismail Sheikh, Kalol
camp, Panchmahals district, March 30,
2002
Additional facts about the case:
· Medina?s testimony has been corroborated
by the other two living witnesses -
Mehboob and Khushboo. Khushboo in her testimony
also recounted how her
grandfather (Medina?s father-in-law) and Huriben
were killed. She also narrated how
Ruqaiya?s pajamas were taken off and then
one by one the men started "poking her in
the lower part with their body".
· We saw a copy of Medina?s FIR, where
the police has charged 5 persons with
murder under section 302. Charges of rape
have not been included. The FIR uses the
colloquial phrase ?bura kaam? rather than
the specific term ?rape?. We were also
given the case report prepared by the camp
leaders. The names of some of the
accused are mentioned in the FIR.
GANG RAPE OF 25 YEAR OLD ZARINA: A HUSBAND?S ACCOUNT
HUSSAIN NAGAR, NARODA PATIA, AHMEDABAD. FEBRUARY 28, 2002
It started at 9 am on February 28th. That?s
when the mobs arrived, shouting - Mian
Bhai nikalo (Bring out the Muslims). Many
of them were wearing kesari chaddis
(saffron shorts or underwear) The mob included
boys from the neighbouring buildings -
Gopinath Society and Gangotri Society. I ran
out of my house with the entire family -
mother, father, sister, sister?s daughter,
my wife Zarina, my brother, my sister-in-law,
and my niece?there were 11 of us. We all ran
towards the Police chowki. The Police
said, ?Go towards Gopinath and Gangotri?.
In the melee, I was separated from my
wife. What happened to her, she told me later.
She tried to escape the mobs by leaping
over a wall. But found herself in a cul-de-sac.
They gang-raped her, and cut one arm.
She was found naked. She was kept in the civil
hospital for many days. Now she is
recovering with her mother near the Khanpur
darwaza.
Source: Naimuddin Ibrahim Sheikh, 30 year old
husband of Zarina. Shah-e-Alam
Camp, March 27, 2002. His family migrated
from Gulbarga in Karnataka in 1971. He
was born in Naroda. Naimmudin?s testimony
was corroborated by Mumtaz, who was
among the women who found Zarina naked in
the maidan.
VILLAGE DELOL, PANCHMAHALS DISTRICT. MARCH
1, 2002
The extended families of Mohammad Bhai and
Bhuri Behn - about 20 people - were
chased by the mob to the river. Javed and
another boy who managed to escape and
hide behind a bush saw the mob kill Mohammad
Bhai and rape Yasmin. They were
about to kill the mother of the other boy
who was hiding with him. So he screamed and
ran out from behind the bush and was caught.
He was made to walk around the dead
bodies that were burnt (as if around a pyre)
and he was then pushed into the fire.
Source: Women from Delol at Halol Camp, Panchmahals
district, March 30, 2002.
Javed, Mohammad Bhai?s nephew, had come to
Delol to help his uncle. He had
narrated this to several of the women from
Delol. Javed has returned to his village,
Desar.
STRIPPING AND BRUTALISING OF AN ENTIRE FAMILY, LIMKHEDA
VILLAGE.
DHEROL STATION, HALOL TALUKA, PANCHMAHALS DISTRICT.
FEBRUARY 28, 2002
35 year old Haseena Bibi Yasin Khan Pathan
along with her entire extended family of
17 people ran from Limkheda on the morning
of February 28th. At 7 am they caught
the train from Limkheda Station, disembarked
at Dherol Station at 10 am. That?s when
they encountered the mob. Every one ran helter-skelter
and the family got separated.
Haseena, her husband, and young daughter managed
to run towards Halol. Two
children, Farzana (10 years old) and Sikandar
(7 years old) escaped into the fields.
Four boys - Ayub, (age 12), Mushtaq, (age
12), Mohsin, (age 10), and Shiraz (age 7)
managed to hide behind bushes, and witnessed
what happened. There was a large
crowd. They were wearing pant-shirt and brandishing
swords. According to Ayub, the
mob caught his sister Afsana and cousins Zebu,
Noorjehan, Sitara, Akbar, Rehana,
Yusuf, Imran, Khatun (Aunt) and Zareef (brother).
They were all stripped naked and
made to run towards a nearby canal. That?s
the last Ayub saw of them. The bodies
turned up charred near the canal the following
day. He doesn?t recognize the mob. No
FIR has been lodged.
Source: Ayub, Halol Camp, Panchmahals district.
The first part of the testimony is
corroborated by his mother, Haseena Bibi.
ACTIVISTS? EXPERIENCES OF DEALING WITH RAPE survivors
SHAH-E- ALAM RELIEF CAMP, AHMEDABAD.
Naseem and Mahmooda, from nearby Millat Nagar,
work with Sahrwaru, a voluntary
organization. They are presently working at
the Shah Alam camp. They testified that
many women arrived stark naked at the camp.
Men took off their shirts to cover the
women?s nakedness. Some could barely walk
because of torn genitals as a result of
gang rapes. While talking to them we met Zubeida
Apa, an elderly woman who has
witnessed girls being gang raped. Her trauma
was writ large on her face. We did not
dare to rake up her pain by asking her more
questions. We were told about Najma
Bano who was brought to the camp unconscious,
her body covered with bites and nail
marks. She was bleeding profusely. Pieces
of wood, which had been shoved up her
vagina were extricated by the women who dressed
her wounds. Najma Bano herself
was too traumatized to recount her own story.
She says she does not remember
anything, except being chased by the men from
Gangotri Society. Accounts like these
require further follow-up.
Source: Naseem and Mehmooda, Millat Nagar
The following testimonies have been taken from
documentation supplied to the
fact-finding team by Citizens Initiative,
Ahmedabad:
NARODA PATIA. FEBRUARY 28, 2002[6][6]
By now it was 6.30 in the evening. The mob
caught my husband and hit him on his
head twice with the sword. Then they threw
petrol in his eyes and then burned him. My
sister-in- law was stripped and raped. She
had a three-month old baby in her lap. They
threw petrol on her and the child was taken
from her lap and thrown in the fire. My
brother-in-law was also struck on the head
with the sword and thrown in the fire. We
were at the time hiding on the terrace of
a building. My mother-in-law was unable to
climb the stairs so she was on the ground
floor with her four-year-old grandson. She
told them to take away whatever money she
had but to spare the children. They took
away all the money and jewelry, then burnt
the children with petrol. My mother-in-law
was raped too. I witnessed all this. Unmarried
girls from my street were stripped,
raped and burnt. A 14-year-old girl was killed
by piercing an iron rod into her
stomach. The mayhem ended at 2.30 am. Then
the ambulance came and I sat in it
along with bodies of my husband and children.
I have injury marks on my both my
thighs and left hand, which were caused by
the police beating. My husband (48 %
burns), my daughter (95 % burns) both died
in the hospital after three days. The police
was on the spot but they were helping the
mob. We fell at their feet but they said they
were ordered from above not to help. Since
the telephone wires were snapped we
could not inform the fire brigade.
Source: Jannat Sheikh, testimony to Citizens
Initiative.
BILKEES: ACCOUNT OF A RAPE Survivor
RANDHIKPUR VILLAGE, DISTRICT DAHOD[7][7]. MARCH
3, 2002
Twenty-one year old Bilkees was five months
pregnant. When Muslim houses in her
village were attacked on February 28th, by
a mob comprising upper caste people from
her own village and some outsiders, she and
several of her family members fled. For
two days they ran from village to village.
At a mosque near Kuajher, her cousin
Shamim, delivered a baby. But there was no
respite for them. They had to leave
immediately, including Shamim who could barely
walk, carrying her newborn baby.
On March 3rd we had started moving towards
Panivela village, which was in a remote
and hilly area. Suddenly we heard the sound
of a vehicle. A truck came with people
from our own village and outsiders too. We
realised that they had not come to help us.
They stopped us and then the madness started.
They pulled my baby from my arms
and threw her away. The other women and I
were taken aside and raped. I was raped
by three men. I was screaming all the time.
They beat me and then left me for dead.
When I regained consciousness I found I was
alone. All around me were the dead
bodies of my family, my baby girl, the newborn
baby, their bodies were covered with
the rocks and boulders used to kill them.
I lay there the whole night and most of the
next day. I do not know when I was conscious
and when unconscious. Later I was
found by a police squad from Limkheda police
station .I was taken to the hospital and
then brought to the Godhra Camp.
Testimony to AIDWA and Anandi
Additional facts about the case:
· Her FIR has been filed and a medical
examination done on the insistence of the
District collector, Jayanti Ravi, even though
six-days had passed. Rape has been
confirmed.
· She has named the people who killed
her family members and those who raped her:
Sailesh Bhatt, Mithesh Bhatt, Vijay Maurya,
Pradeep Maurya, Lala Vakil, Lala
Doctor, Naresh Maurya, Jaswant Nai and Govind
Nai (the last three gang-raped her)
· Initially all her family members were
missing. Her father and husband have been
traced to another camp at Dahod and her brother,
Saeed, is with her in Godhra.
A META-NARRATIVE OF BESTIALITY
"But what they did to my sister-in-law?s
sister Kausar Bano was horrific and heinous.
She was 9 months pregnant. They cut
open her belly, took out her foetus with a sword
and threw it into a blazing fire. Then they burnt her as well."
Source: Saira Banu, Naroda Patia
(recorded at the Shah-e-Alam Camp on March
27th, 2002).
During our fact-finding mission, we
were to hear this story many times. We read about
it in other fact-finding
reports. We were told about it by many survivors at the
Shah-e-Alam camp. Sometimes the details
would vary - the foetus was dashed to the
ground, the foetus was slaughtered with
a sword, the foetus was swung on the point of
the sword and then thrown into
a fire. Each teller of the story owned it. It was as if it
was their own story. Were these simply
the fevered imaginings of traumatized minds?
We think not. Kausar?s story has
come to embody the numerous experiences of evil
that were felt by the Muslims of Naroda
Patia on February 28, 2002. In all instances
where extreme violence is experienced
collectively, meta-narratives are constructed.
Each victim is part
of the narrative; their experience subsumed by the collective
experience. Kausar is that
collective experience - a meta-narrative of bestiality; a
meta-narrative of helpless victimhood. There are a thousand Kausars.
Members of the fact-finding team have
seen photographic evidence of the burnt bodies
of a mother and a foetus lying on the
mother?s belly, as if torn from the uterus and left
on the gash. We do not know if that was Kausar Bano.