Risk of impunity of a rape case

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from a reliable local source and Antenna International, a member of the SOS-Torture Network, regarding the case of a 19 years old girl (name withheld), raped by a young man, and who has faced difficulties in filing a complaint and obtaining a medical certificate in Uluberia, Howrah District, West Bengal.

According to the information received, the 19 year-old girl was attacked and raped in the evening of 12 November 2007 by Indrajit Ghorui, a man from her village. The victim’s father found her while she was being raped and recognised the man. On 13 November, she was taken to Uluberia Sub-Divisional Hospital where the doctor just checked her and affirmed she had been raped but he did not issue a certificate. On the same day the victim’s family went to Uluberia police station to lodge a complaint. Police officers refused to register it. The family then turned to higher authorities, but the Sub Divisional Police officer also refused. 13 days later they tried again, without success.

Meanwhile the family vainly tried to get a medical test to confirm the rape. On 30 November, the hospital authorities refused to arrange a medical test and asked the victim to return on 12 December. Then she was again given a new date, and returned on 18 December unsuccessfully. The medical test was finally done on 20 December.

On 5 December, Uluberia police officers finally registered the complaint under section 376/506 of the Indian Penal Code for rape and criminal intimidation. According to the information received, the police arrested the aggressor but they were waiting for the medical certificate of the victim.

OMCT is concerned by the delay in the medical examination and in the complaint registration in this case, which clearly amounts to a State failure to exercise its due diligence toward a rape victim. Moreover, a police officer named Ashoke Basu allegedly stated that “the victim and the accused knew each other and were both adults”, therefore “it was not an incident of rape”. OMCT fears that the perpetrator may enjoy impunity due to police bias and the failure to ensure a prompt collection of medical evidence of the rape.

OMCT recalls that the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states in its article 4(c) that States should "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons."

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in India urging them to:

1. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the 19-year-old rape victim;
2. Ensure a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to bring the responsible to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
3. Guarantee that adequate rehabilitation and compensation is awarded to the victim;
4. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

• Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857
• Shri Shivraj Patil, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India, Fax: +91 11 2309 2979.
• Justice K. G. Balkrishnan, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, Email: supremecourt@nic.in
• Justice Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@nic.in
• National Commission for Women, 4 Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Marg, New Delhi-110 002. Fax: +91-11-23236154. E-mail: ncw@nic.in.

Regional and local addresses:

• Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen, Chairman, West Bengal Human Rights Commission, Bhabani Bhaban, Alipur, Kolkata - 27. Phone +91-33-24797727, 24791629, Fax - 24799633, Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in
• West Bengal Commission for Women (WBCW), 10 Reiny Park, Kolkata - 19. E-mail: chairperson@wbcw.org
• Howrah District Magistrate, West Bengal. E-mail: dm-how@wb.nic.in. Tel +91 26603367

Ambassadors:

• H.E. Mr. Swashpawan Singh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9 (6ème étage), 1202 Geneva, Tel: +41 22 906 86 86, Fax: +41 22 906 86 96, Email: mission.india@ties.itu.int
• Mr. Dipak Chatterjee, Ambassador, Embassy of India in Brussels, 217 Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)2 6489638 or +32 (0)2 6451869

Please also write to the embassies of India in your respective country.

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Geneva, 15 January 2008.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.