N C W URGED TO TAKE ACTION IN CASE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ON MANIPUR GIRL IN GURGAON

N C W URGED TO TAKE ACTION IN CASE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ON MANIPUR GIRL IN GURGAON


New Delhi, December 16, 2007

[The following is the text of a complaint by the North East Support Centrre and Helpline to Ms Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women, New Delh]



Re: Landlord’s sexual assault on Manipur woman in Gurgaon - FIR No. 552 of 2007 Police Station DLF, District Gurgaon, Haryana u/s 354, 376, 511 IPC sec 3-33-89 Sc/St Act



We are writing to you in some distress on an urgent matter relating to the plight of tribal women, specially those from the North eastern States, who work in the National Capital Region, and particularly in NOIDA [Uttar Pradesh] and Faridabad and Gurgaon [Haryana]. While earlier we had a history of migration, and exploitation, of young women from the tribal belts of Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh coming as domestic maids, the recent migration, in the thousands, is of educated girls from Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland who come to work in Call Centers and the IT industry in these towns. They live in small groups, and often alone, and are subject of much harassment in areas of residence and the workplace.. The North East Support Centre & Helpline was recently founded in New Delhi by concerned NGOs to assist such girls in distress and in danger of physical and psychological harm.



The NE Support Centre & Helpline on Friday, 14th December 2007, brought to my attention the following case which I am submitting to the N C W for your urgent attention and action. I visited Gurgaon on 15th December 2007, interviewed the young women, Linda, and spoke with the Gurgaon Commissioner of Police as also other officers because the extremely unprofessional and sadistic behaviour of the SHO of the DLF Police station, Gurgaon, and the aggressive attitude of friends of the criminal son of the landlord against whom the girl has complained. The landlord’s son and his friends, in fact, followed me and my associates around as we went to the Police station, and later the offices of the ACP and the Police Commissioner in different sectors of Gurgaon.



In brief, the case is as follows:



Linda is from Manipur from where she came about seven months ago to do a course in beauty-care to be able to take up a job as her father, a carpenter, is not able to support his large family of seven. Linda lives with her sister in a room they rented on 11 November 2007, in House Number 65, Chakkarpur village, near Krishna Market, in the DLF area of Gurgaon, Haryana. In the past, other girls of the region have stayed in this village.



The son of the landlord, named Vikram, has apparently had his eye on these girls. On three occasions, he attempted to molest Linda. He entered their room when her sister had gone to her job in a beauty salon, was away. On two occasions, he caught hold of her and sought to take advantage of her. She screamed, struggled, and resisted his advances. When she ran and opened the door to cry for help, he slinked away. The third time, on 11 December 2007 at 7.30 pm, he again entered her room and grabbed her, trying to kiss her and fondle her body. She again screamed and when there was a commotion, he ran away.



The girl and her sister, together with other friends from their state, protested to the landlord about his son. Instead of listening to them, apologizing for his son, and making amends, the landlord threw the girls out of the house. They could not collect even their personal belongings and were forced to leave the house with most of their belongings in the room.

The girls could also not lodge a complaint with the police. They are still terrified and can hardly express themselves coherently out of fear and mortification.



Eventually they approached the NE Support Centre & Helpline in Delhi through another youth from Manipur. NE Support Centre & Helpline secretary Rev Madhu Chandra, a Manipuri, accompanied them to the Police Station. He was surprised to find that not only were the assault and his fiends already at the police station, the SHO was extremely aggressive. He did not show any sympathy for the girl. He also was not bothered that Rev Chandra was pleading that a case be registered. After a very long time, but not before he had shown extreme hostility towards the group, the police register a complaint. At that stage they refused to give a copy of the complaint.

On Saturday, 15 December 2007, Dr. John FDayal, Member, National Integration Council, accompanied NE Support Centre & Helpline President, Ms Lansinglu, a Supreme Court of India Advocate, Rev Madhu Chandra, and the victim and her sister, to the Police station. The police again would not talk about the case, though the assailant and his friends were present in large numbers and even tried to persuade me t not take up the matter with the police. We then went to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, DLF region, and eventually met the Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, who gave us a patient hearing. He has assured action.



However, the matter is far more serious and deserves the concern of the National Commission for Women. We request that the NCW make a through survey of working women in Haryana and devise steps, in conjunction with the police and the government, to ensure the safety and security of the working women from distant parts of India. We must mention that we did not find a single woman police at the Gurgaon police station.



We are sure you will treat this letter as an urgent complaint.



Dr. John Dayal

Source: NESC Helpline