11-Year-Old Girl Child Molested in Kalimpong

12:03 PM

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sexual assault

HORRIFIC: 11-Year-Old Girl Child Molested in Kalimpong

SPECIAL REPORT: Nisha V Chettri

After an incident of molestation to a minor that came to light through social networking sites, the accused allegedly identified as Govind Sarki has been absconding, while the little survivor admits that she was molested.

Sarki is known to be a driver (Driving white WagonR) by profession, living with a wife and daughter of two. According to the information received from the survivor’s family, the mother, who suffers from fluency disorder, used to walk her towards her school every day. On Friday, Sakri coincidently was around their locality and volunteered to drop the girl to her school, which he used to do once in a while.

On the way to her school, he stopped the car in an isolated area, came out of the driver’s seat, got in the second seat, locked the door, removed her shirt and molested her. It was known that she was alone in the car.

She returned home later in the (Friday) evening and told her mother about the incident, her mother, on the other hand, was not (fully) believed by her family members because of her disorder.

On Sunday, when the family members prepared to give the girl a bath, they asked her about the incident and she said everything slowly. The family members later took her to Sarki’s house to identify him, he was not present. When his photo was shown, she started shivering with fear, informed the family members. They filed an FIR later in the evening on Sunday and admitted her at the District Hospital for her medicals.

‘He also bit her in sensitive parts of the body’ said the family source, while the survivor was nodding behind her at the District Hospital when asked her, ‘How old are you?’ she responded ‘I am turning 11 soon’

It was also known that he gave her 10 rupees before and after he abused her. Sarki, on the other hand, has been absconding ever since the incident

‘If the kid is lying or unsure, why would he abscond after the incident?’ questioned the family members.

However, as per the verbal order of Child Welfare Committee-Alipurduar, (In-Charge Kalimpong), she was sent to Bal Suraksha Abhiyan (An NGO) in the evening, for the temporary shelter.

The case is filed in the Women Police Station and the police sources said that they are investigating in the matter.

Via TheDC

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"Death to Child Rapists” - Parliament Passes Bill

8:55 PM

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sexual assault

Parliament on Monday passed a stringent legislation prescribing death penalty to those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years and making the law against such sexual offences harsher. The Bill replaces the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on April 21, following an outcry over the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the rape of another woman at Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 30, was approved by a voice vote in the Upper House.

While replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju assured the House that the concerns and issues raised by the members would be looked into by the government, even as he did not agree with the demand of several MPs to send the bill to a Select Committee for scrutiny.

Terming the bill as one of national importance, Rijiju said the law is aimed at providing safety to minor girls as he highlighted various aspects of the measure.

He said the government brought the bill, as in the last few months, several heart-rending incidents of rape of under- aged girls have taken place in the country.

Rijiju said four states had already brought a law in their respective assemblies for capital punishement those who commit rape gainst the girl child who are under the age of 12. The states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

"We have introduced certain changes in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Court Procedure, Evidence Act and there are consequential effects on prevention of atrocities against children," the minister said.

The bill stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 12 years. Death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years.

The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.

According to the bill, in case of rape of a girl under 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means jail term till the convict's "natural life".

Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.

The measure also provides for speedy investigations and trial. The time limit for investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed, which has to be mandatorily completed within two months.

The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months. A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed, the bill says, adding that there will also be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gangrape of a girl under 16 years.

Participating in the debate, several members made a case for sending the bill for scrutiny to Select Committee, saying there were several shortcomings in it.

Some members argued that the provision of death penalty could affect reporting of cases of sexual assault as in many cases the accused happened to be relatives or known persons.

There was also an opinion that the provision of death penalty could endanger the life of the victim.

Many members suggested that the government change the term 'woman' in the bill appropriately and make it gender- neutral as such crimes do happen with boys as well.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray (TMC) wondered why there are different punishment according to the age of the vicitm. He also expressed concern over the large pendency of cases in courts in the country.

Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) expressed concern that provision of death penalty may endanger victim's life, while Kahkashan Perween (JD-U) suggested that like in Bihar, there should be women police stations in all states.

Chhaya Verma (Cong) said punishment should be the same for those convicted for rape, irrespective of the gender of child victim.

Ravi Prakash Verma (SP) said the bill should be sent to a select commitee as it took care only of girls and not boys. Citing a survey, he added that the cases of sexual violence were more against boys. Rajeev Gowda (Congress) also aked the government refer it to a select committee.

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Prof. Mahendra P Lama gets clean chit on sexual harassment case

8:53 PM

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sexual assault

JNU sexual harassment case: Panel clears professors, warns complainants

The first complaint relates to an alleged incident in 2013, and the second to an incident last year — the complaints in both the cases were registered in January this year. The probe report, along with the ICC’s recommendations, in the first case was submitted on June 29, and in the second case on July 25.

Written by Aranya Shankar , Shradha Chettri
When contacted by The Indian Express, the ICC’s presiding officer, Vibha Tandon, declined comment. Kharat did not respond to requests seeking comment. The complainants could not be reached for comment.

The internal regulator of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has cleared two professors named together in two different complaints of sexual harassment — and instead, issued identical warnings to the complainants for “advertising” the issue.

In separate recommendations following probes in both the cases, JNU’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) concluded that “no case of sexual harassment” could be made out against Mahendra P Lama and Rajesh Kharat. Lama is a professor at the Centre for South Asian Studies, where Kharat was former chairperson. However, both sets of recommendations contain the same warning in identical paragraphs.

“It was observed during the proceedings that the complainant herself was advertising about her complaint on her Facebook and through other electronic media and informed the public at large. Hence, the complainant should be issued a warning to not indulge in such act in future because this kind of act by any of the complainants, defendants and witnesses damages the inquiry procedure and the affected parties. This kind of a public propaganda also damages the image of the institution,” it reads.

When contacted by The Indian Express, the ICC’s presiding officer, Vibha Tandon, declined comment. Kharat did not respond to requests seeking comment. The complainants could not be reached for comment.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Lama said: “It was a fake and frivolous case lodged by non-performing students in collaboration with non-performing teachers.”

The first complaint relates to an alleged incident in 2013, and the second to an incident last year — the complaints in both the cases were registered in January this year. The probe report, along with the ICC’s recommendations, in the first case was submitted on June 29, and in the second case on July 25.

In the 2013 complaint, the ICC concluded that “no case of sexual harassment is made out against Lama and Kharat”. In the 2017 complaint, too, the ICC found “no case of sexual harassment”.
In the second case, however, the ICC noted that there was an “administrative lapse” on the part of Lama for denying the complainant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for changing the supervisor. It noted a similar “lapse” on the part of Kharat for not discussing the complainant’s application for a change of supervisor in the faculty meeting.

In the 2013 complaint, the ICC concluded: “Professor Mahendra P Lama was a strict teacher who wanted his students to work hard and perform up to mark, which cannot be termed and/or understood as sexual harassment at all. The complainant could not complete her thesis on time and also it is clear from the deposition of the complainant that on the basis of some rumour she developed “Lama phobia”, which triggered the present complaint. It is also clear (Lama) gave NOC to the complainant without delay for the change of supervisor.”

On the same complaint, the ICC observed that “Kharat did not perform his duty of maintaining the records and files of the PhD students properly. But this act of Kharat cannot be termed as sexual harassment in terms of the Act”.

In the 2017 complaint, ICC recommended that Lama and Kharat be “censured”. Lama was censured for “creating uncertainty by not giving NOC to complainant as well as directing (the) complainant to de-register against her will”.

Via Indian Express

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JNU students protest against Mahendra P Lama leveling allegations of sexual harassment

6:47 AM

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sexual assault

JNU students protest against 2 other professors alleging sexual harassment

ANI | New Delhi Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) staged a protest against professors Mahendra P Lama, and Rajesh Kharat leveling allegations of sexual harassment against them. The students demanded that they should be arrested.

Recently, JNU's another professor Atul Johri was arrested in a sexual harassment case and was later granted bail.

A student of JNU filed a case against Lama and Kharat, who work in the Centre of South Asian Studies of JNU. The professors allegedly took the student to China for work and tried to harass her sexually.

She asked the Internal Complaint Committee of JNU to suspend the professor. However, no step been taken against him as yet.

Both the professors were arrested by the Police on the basis of the complaint registered by the victim but were later granted bail. The varsity authority has not taken an action against them since then.

Via B S

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Gorkha Students, JNU in Solidarity with NBU fighting for Gender Justice

9:28 PM

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sexual assault

Solidarity Statement from Gorkha Students, JNU to the students of North Bengal University (NBU) fighting for Gender Justice

We students of JNU salute and take inspiration from the historic struggle waged by students of NBU against the recent incidents (15th August, 2016) of sexual harassment in campus premises of North Bengal University. The struggle has unsettled the deep patriarchal anxiety of the administration and will definitely contribute to expansion of the spaces for women (both within and outside campus premises).

   The patriarchal unequal gender relation of society also permeates the work premises. This power relation has its own class, caste and racial manifestations. Under such hierarchical social relation the gender justice cannot be achieved if the perpetrator lies in top of power relation. Failure to deliver gender justice only strengthens the forces of patriarchy and sexual-harassers and jeopardizes the space for women to come up and lodge complaints against similar cases of violence. The administration throughout country has repeatedly used their authority to shield sexual harassers even after they have been found guilty under enquiry, particularly when the guilty is someone with influence. At the one hand laws (Prevention of Sexual Harassment in Work Place Act, 2013) which are supposed to protect and give justice also reflects the same patriarchal attitude. Hence, to look matter of sexual harassment and to sensitise campus on issue of gender, we think that independent and effective body like Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), as per the Supreme Court's Vishaka Judgement guidelines 13th August, 1999, should be constituted in every work place of this country and decisions of the GSCASH should be made binding upon the administration or any person with sufficient influence/power. The ongoing struggle of students in NBU can make sure that such proper institutional mechanism is instated in campus premises. Even regressive act like Prevention of Sexual Harassment in Work Place Act, 2013 makes its mandatory to do so.
 

The procession taken out by NBU students and research scholars on Friday.
 Picture by Kundan Yolmo

We believe promoting a security centric solution to the issue of crime against women (like putting the entire campus under the gaze of CCTVs) will only worsen the situation for female students and hamper their mobility within campus. The security centric approaches reflect the same protectionist patriarchal male chauvinist attitude that will perpetuate the age old unequal gender relations. Such security centric measures are very likely to be used by authority as tool of extensive surveillance and discipline and contrary to initial believe, can be used to further curtail the freedom of students. Definitely prisons are safe, but we don’t want our campus to be that.

We demand speedy trail and prompt justice to be delivered. We demand the perpetrators to be brought to justice, through an impartial investigation and speedy trial in appropriate forum of authority. We extend our solidarity to the uncompromising struggle of students of NBU on issue of sexual harassment and gender justice.

Only the unity among an oppressed can break the chain of patriarchy!  Let us all join hands together and raise voices for gender justice!

-Gorkha Students, JNU                
Issued on 20/10/2010

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Three arrested for raping minor in Darjeeling

9:33 AM

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sexual assault

DARJEELING 10 Aug 2016 Police arrested three youths on Tuesday night from the Lebong area in Darjeeling for sexually assaulting a minor girl and the three were today produced in court and sent  to judicial custody. According to the police, the three are Bijendra Khawas (21) from Kothey Gaon, Harsingh; Dipen Rawat (30) of Gofley Phatak; and Sushant Pradhan (23) of Upper Harsingh.

The fourth culprit, Ajay Tamang of Banekburn, is absconding, they said.

All the youths are drivers of a local taxi syndicate and hail from the Lebong area, located 8km from Darjeeling town. Police sources said the minor, who appears to have known the accused, was raped twice  in the Lebong area. “The first rape took place on July 25 and the perpetrator was Tamang. That day, the accused picked up the victim and took her to a garage in Upper Harsingh and committed the crime,”  said a police officer.

The second assault was committed on August 1 by Khawas and Rawat. “We are trying to string together the incidents based on the complaint lodged by the victim’s uncle. It seems on August 1, the two accused had taken the victim to Rungdung Khola, a few kilometres below Harsingh, and committed the crime,” the officer said.

The victim’s family lodged a police complaint on August 9, after a week, and the police subsequently arrested the youths the same day. “An investigation has started. We were told by the victim’s family they  were not aware of crime. It was only yesterday that the victim told her family,” said the policeman.

Amit Javalgi, the Darjeeling SP, confirmed that a complaint had been lodged and three people arrested. “Yesterday a complaint was lodged in the Darjeeling sadar police station about rape. Acting on the complaint, we have arrested three people who were today produced in court, while a search is on to trace the fourth accused. Medical examination has also been conducted on the victim and reports are awaited,” he said.

The three accused were produced in the Additional District Session’s (second) court and sent to judicial remand. They have been directed to appear before court on August 19.

Condemning the incident, the Lebong Motor Syndicate today halted vehicular services from the town area to Lebong for the day. “We strongly condemn the incident and want justice for the victim. The accused must be arrested and given severe punishment to ensure such crimes do not recur,” said P. Hingmang, general secretary of the syndicate.

(EOIC)

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Mangal Singh Rajput's son held for raping a minor in Kalimpong

10:07 AM

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sexual assault

Writes RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, June 13: A probationary clerical staff member of the Kalimpong municipality was arrested from his home last night for allegedly raping a minor on Saturday night.

According to the girl's mother, the 16-year-old child was picked up by Arpan Singh Rajput while she was on her way home after buying grocery items from a fair price shop on Saturday evening. Arpan kept her confined in a garage overnight.

"Arpan forcibly put her on his bike and took her to a garage nearby. She was kept there overnight and he raped her repeatedly. We looked for her everywhere but could not trace her," the mother said.

"My daughter returned home after fleeing from the garage and she told us about the incident".

The girl's family lodged a police complaint against Arpan yesterday.

The Class VIII girl said Arpan repeatedly threatened her and asked her not to reveal anything to anyone.

Arpan, Mangal Singh Rajput's son held for raping a minor in Kalimpong

"Arpan, 24, is the son of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporter Mangal Singh Rajput, who burnt himself to death during the party's agitation for Gorkhaland in the middle of 2013," said a police source.

A police source said Arpan had been booked under Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012. If proved guilty, he could face imprisonment for seven years or lifetime.

Arpan was produced in the Darjeeling sessions judge court today and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.


Telegraph

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