Rape

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

As in other countries throughout the world, rape is extremely common in India. Hardly a day
passes without a case of rape being reported in the newspapers.

Women belonging to low castes, and tribal women are especially at risk. What is particularly
worrying about rape in India is the lack of seriousness with which the crime is often treated, and the
degrading treatment to which alleged rape victims are often subjected by law courts and by their
own communities. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that rape laws are inadequate and
definitions so narrow that prosecution is made difficult. In a notorious case from Rajasthan, alleged
gang-rapers were acquitted on account of their high-caste and middle-agedness.

A case study which has received a great deal of media attention recently regarding a woman social
activist from Rajasthan powerfully illustrates the difficulties of women who have been raped, and
gives an insight into the status of women in India.

43 year-old Bhanwari Devi, a backward-caste voluntary worker from Bhateri village in Rajasthan filed a complaint with the police in 1992 alleging that she had been gang-raped. She had allegedly been raped on September 22, 1992, by members of a rich, high-caste family, whom she had attempted to report for organising a child marriage as part of her job in the state sponsored
Rajasthan's Women's Development Project.

Following its transference from the local police to the state Criminal Investigations Department, and
then under pressure from women's groups, to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), the district
and sessions court in Jaipur dismissed her case and acquitted all five accused: Ram Sukh Gujjar,
Ram Karan Gujjar, Gyarsa Gujjar, Badri Gujjar, and Shravan Sharma. The judgement emphasised
that her First Information Report (FIR) was not immediately filed and that she did not tell anyone
else in the village about her ordeal.

Khalsa Human Rights does not consider that this would be a surprising reaction to gang-rape and the emotional trauma and stigma attached to it. Based on an examination of available press reports,
Khalsa Human Rights remains very concerned about the outco me of this case and the poor
treatment which has been accorded to Ms. Bhanwari Devi.

Custodial Rape Article 7 ICCPR: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.Article 10(1) ICCPR: All persons deprived of their shall
be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.\

Custodial rape is a particularly important category of rape since it represents a flagrant abuse of the
authority of the Indian government, the ver y same institution which is bound to promote and protect
the rights of women. The degree to which government authorities are willing to ensure that the
perpetrators of this crime are brought to justice is likely to be a good indication of the esteem in
which women's rights are held in the society as a whole.

Hundreds of cases of police rape have been reported in India in recent years, but convictions
of police officers for raping women in their custody remain rare. Few cases of custodial rape
reach the trial stage. In 1990 five police officers in West Bengal were suspended for allegedly
raping Kankuli Santra in Singur police station. The police at first tried to avoid responsibility
by claiming that she was mentally ill. Then they said that she was a bad woman. Public
protests eventually forced charges to be brought against two of the officers, but the case was
dismissed for lack of evidence.

According to a recent report by the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) -- an Indian
human rights organisation -- police officers were charged in 10 cases of rape in New Delhi between
1989-1993. They reported that the courts tended to ignore the victim's vulnerability, and often
subject the victim to so much emotional strain that the case is dropped completely.

Of the ten cases it is reported that six of the women wanted to withdraw the charges in order to end
their ordeal; two of the women did not show up to complete proceedings; one of the remaining cases was still in progress, with all four def endants on bail. In the only remaining case, there was a failure
to produce any of the accused in court. In another case which has been brought to the attention of
Khalsa Human Rights, , the wife of Kanwar Singh Dhami, a well-known advocate of an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan) in Punjab, was arrested in Himachal Predesh in 1993, following a
seditious speech given by her husband at the Anandpur Sahib Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). Kanwar
Singh Dhami claimed that he and his wife were tortured in front of each other by Punjab police
during their detention.

Kuldip Kaur alleged that she had been raped by the police during her detention, and that she had to have an abortion on April 11, 1994, because of the pain that she was suffering.

Rape in Kashmir: Rape by the Border Security Force

Custodial rape is frequently reported in Kashmir, where it has a greater significance than mere abuse
of authority, but has become a tool of war. Since Indian crackdowns began against militants in
Kashmir in 1990, rape has been used as a weapon by both the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), and by militant groups.

In October 1992, Human Rights Watch/Asia and Physicians for Human Rights documented 15
cases of reported rape by the army and BSF.

Rape by the BSF usually occurs during crackdowns and \ldblquote cordon-and-search operations,
during which men are held for identification while security forces search their homes. It is used as
means of humiliating entire communities, and as a means of reprisal following militant ambushes.

On October 10, 1992 an Indian Army Unit entered the village of Chak Saidpora near the town of
Shopian, district Pulwama, searching for suspected militants. During the operation, six to nine women were gang-raped by army officers.

The investigations which followed were inadequate and characterised by an unwillingness on the part of the Indian government to accept responsibility, and a deliberate attempt to discredit the testimony
of the victims.

These events at Shopian are but one example of abuses against women committed by the army and
BSF. India's criminal law prescribes punishment for members of the police or security forces who
have committed rape.

Section 376(1)}{\fs24 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) -- A minimum of 7 years may be imposed
for rape.

Criminal Law Amendment (Prevention) Act 1983 -- Provides for the offence of custodial rape
carrying a sentence of 10 years imprisonment, which may be extended to life imprisonment and may
also include a fine.

Commissioned officers of paramilitary and military forces are included under Section 376 (2)(b) of
the IPC and are also subject to this mandatory sentence.

Military laws governing federal paramilitary forces also prescribe courts-martial and punishments for
members of these forces who rape. These laws are not enforced by the authorities, and according to Human Rights Watch, the character of the victim is all too often the basis for decisions in cases,
rather than the nature of the behaviour of the alleged rapist towards the woman in question.

Rape by Militants Although opposition groups have no obligation to uphold international human
rights law, which only applies to independent states, human rights abuses by militant groups must be
similarly condemned. Under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which govern the laws of war, each party to an internal conflict is bound to respect basic human rights guarantees.

Frequently members of militant groups rape women who are believed to be from families of other
rival militant groups. Women have been raped and killed after being abducted by rival militant groups and held as hostages for their male relatives.

In other cases, members of armed groups have abducted a woman after threatening to shoot the rest of the family unless she was handed over.

Victims of rape are stigmatised, their testimonies often treated with little concern, Social attitudes
make prosecution difficult, and women are understandably reluctant to press charges.

Case Studies Mrs Sees Kaur was abducted by a police party led by Sub-Inspector Radha Kishan, and comprising head constables Charanjit Singh and Kashmiri. They had picked her up from Pailli village, near Balachaur (Hoshiarpur district) on the charge of harbouring terrorists. She was allegedly tortured and gang-raped in the police station for two days. After seven years of tenacity in the face of cover-ups and deliberate attempts to destroy relevant evidence -- the police intervened to ensure that Mrs. Kaur would be incapable of receiving medica l examination to corroborate her evidence and burned her house containing her bloodstained clothes -- the trial of the accused officers was due to begin at the end of September. Khalsa Human Rights has no further details.

Zawra and Wahab Noori of Theno Budapathry village in Kashmir were allegedly collecting firewood from a local forest when several soldiers took them to a nearby house and repeatedly raped them at gunpoint. It is reported by village elders that several families had fled Theno Budapathry to search for safer places to live after Indian soldiers were apparently looking around for more young women.

Ms. Katia, a 24 year old French visitor to Punjab, was abducted and allegedly gang-raped by five men suspected of having been police. Even though in her initial report filed with the Mohali police she filed a charge of gang-rape, she later changed her statement to say that she had been abduct ed and molested. It is alleged that she was pressurised into making the change.

Torture/Abuses Against Women in Custody Article 7 of the ICCPR proscribes torture.

Article 10 of the ICCPR states that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with
humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

United Nations resolutions such as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
mandate non-discrimination on the basis of sex whilst in custody, and require that prisoners have
procedures for filing complaints and are given full information about these procedures.

Article 17 of the ICCPR provides for the right to be protected against unlawful interference with
privacy.

Articles 9-16 of the ICCPRobligate states to ensure effective redress for women victims of custodial violence, and freedom from arbitrary detention.

In addition to men who are hounded by the police in secessionist regions such as Punjab and Jammu
and Kashmir, women and children have similarly been subjected to harassment, torture and custodial death at the hands of brutal police. \par \par }{\b\fs24 Resham Kaur}{\fs24 of 15D Secto r House
#3453, Chandigarh, Punjab was detained along with her son, Simranjit Singh (8 months old) on
October 22, 1993 in order to determine the whereabouts of her husband Jagjit Singh, who was
suspected of involvement with militant organisations. It was reported that Resham Kaur was
unwilling (or unable) to disclose any information. Her son was held down on a block of ice in the
hope of forcing her to talk. On October 23, 1993 the police announced that Resham Kaur had died
in custody, adding that she h ad committed suicide. Her family believe that she died due to prolonged torture.

As far as Khalsa Human Rights is aware, there is no evidence that Resham Kaur received an
independent or police post mortem. Jagjit Singh alleges that Hansa Singh, who witnessed the torture
of the child, was pressurised to sign a statement that Resham Kaur had committed suicide.

Incidents of physical torture of women and their public auction have been recently reported in the
Thane district of Maharashtra, particularly Sahapur.

It was recently reported that an auction was planned of a 25 year old woman Kahni Dharma
Mondula, and that 3 women were auctioned and 3 auctions stopped at the intervention of a local
organisation.

Similar auctions have been reported in the past four years in the villages of Sakadbab, Kothere and
Umbarvadi following suspicion of infidelity. Intervention prevented the auction of Ahilyabai Kevari
and Kamal Chandu Khadka, however they could not preven t them from being tortured. Huge
stones were placed on the heads of the women and they were tortured and forced to confess their
misdeeds.

Reports from certain tribal societies in West Bengal illustrate that the practice of witch-hunting
continues. 105 women are reported to have been lynched as witches in Malda, and there have been
45 deaths in garden areas of Dooars since 1989. The practice is said to continue amongst the
following tribes: Santhals, Mundas, Kimans and Mahelis.