A Purohit Kanya assaulted - A case
of minority repression or just lust for beauty & wealth ?- Part II
Purohit Kanya Episode Part II :
A visit to a remote village
On way to Shibalay
Myself together with freedom fighter
Tareq Ali and Social leader Pankaj Bhattacharya day before yesterday (14th
May) went to the remote and inaccessible village Aruya, in Aruya union
under the police station Shivalay to collect first hand information about
the alleged sexual violence on a girl, daughter of a priest. We first went
to Manikganj town, about 100 km from Dhaka where we were joined by local
social leaders Dr. Chittaranjan Saha, Mir Abul Hosain, a retired government
officer, Iqbal Hosen Kachi and Kafiluddin Ahmed. Together we went to see
the SP of Manikganj. We were cordially received by his deputy ASP Haidari
at the office of the SP. Haidari got in touch with the SP who expressed
his regret not being able to meet us as he was on a spot visit away from
the town. The ASP apprised us about the episode and admitted that the report
of gang raping on the priest's daughter seemed to be true. He immediate
contacted the OC of Shivalay to extend all cooperation to us.
We, on a microbus, took a diversion
road from a spot about 10 km east of Aricha ghat on the Manikgang-Aricha
Highway towards South. We straight drove about 16 km to arrive at Jhatka
Bazar and from there to Misile Bazar another 11 km south-east. From the
Bazar we took rickshaws as there were no more motor-able road. Within 10
minutes we reached on the bank of a small stream 'Ichhamati' which we crossed
with our vehicles on country boats. After about another 15 minutes rickshaw
drive we left the rickshaws to walk down to the residence of the priest
not less than two kilometers. under the scorching summer sun. It was evident
that the locality is lowland, which gets immersed during rainy season as
we moved 20 feet up to reach the base or premise of the house of the priest.
We arrived the residence of the priest at last at about 12 noon.
Two hours at the residence of the
priest
Mr. Khondkar Shafiqul Alam, the
OC of Shivalay police station and his team received us. We were also attended
by the UP Chairman Saifur Rahman Khan Sultan and the local UP member Jabbar
Mian. We talked to Mr. Shyamal Chakravorty, father of the victim- Shilpi
Chakravorty and the mother in private in a room where the incident took
place. Shilpi also talked to us - but we didn't ask her about the incident
as it was a very delicate matter, but she admitted that on the dreadful
night 4 and 5 miscreants attacked her. She could recognize them. There
are two separate houses forming an L each with a single room. The premise
was quite open with mango- and other trees.
According to her parents on 28th
April just after midnight 10-15 young men armed with lethal weapons broke
into the room facing east where the father, mother and the girl were sleeping.
3 or 4 attackers forcibly drag out the priest from the room and tied him
to a nearby mango tree with a rope. They were demanding a sum of 50 thousand
taka (US $ 1000 approximately) from Mr. Chakravorty who expressed his inability
to give them such a huge amount on that night. They threatened him of dire
consequence if he did not comply with their demand; if he failed they would
take her daughter away. Then two miscreants started beating him with a
solid rod on his body; in the process he received severe injury on his
left arm, which he showed to us. I was surprised to know that the attackers
include his tenant (bargadar) Akkas Ali (alias Aku Gazi). The term baragadar
means a lessee holding a piece of land under the condition that a fixed
portion of crop will be paid as revenue to the owner of the land. In the
mean while another two or three assaulters forcibly entered the room facing
south breaking the door and attacked the elder son of the priest. They
prevented him coming out of the room to rescuing his father and inmates.
In the meanwhile the other members
of the attackers remaining inside the first room where the mother and the
victim were trembling with fear threatened the mother that if the priest
did not give them Tk 50 thousand they would lift his daughter. According
to the mother of the victim the daughter was holding her with two hands
and crying out of fear and begging mercy. According to her mother they
using filthy language said, "We will kill you all, if you don't give us
50 thousand taka. You will give either money or the daughter". At this
stage the poor mother to save her daughter's honour and dignity of the
family agreed to pay the sum on the next day. She said to them that they
would try to sell some lands to collect the money. The two miscreants then
forcibly drag the mother out of the room and held her back. Then another
group of miscreants entered the room. At this stage the mother begged them
not to maltreat her daughter- and promised to comply with whatever they
demand, but 'Amar meyeke tomra sparsa korona, tomra ya chao tai debo (Please
don't touch my daughter, whatever you want I will give you)' - cried the
middle aged lady. But who listened to her call for mercy, praying to gods;
her pathetic cry and groaning only saddened the night sky and the air surrounding
the house of the poor priest. The reply came immediately in response to
whatever you want to and showed what they want instantly!
Then what happened- don't ask me
to narrate. The act of en masse raping continued for hours till each and
every one satisfied his lust for sexual hunger. The girl could recognize
at least a few of them and begged for mercy in vain. The poor and wretched
girl at one stage lost her senses and collapsed. The mother just at the
doorstep witnessing her daughter's agony and pain could not bear any more.
She also became unconscious. Not a single person from the locality had
the courage to come forward nor could the neighbors organize a defence
for the poor victim family. After a few hours just before dawn the assaulters
left the premise untying the priest and reminding him to pay their demand
as soon as possible. They also threatened him not to lodge any complain
either to the police or to the leaders of the village- "if you do so, we
will come again"- reported the poor priest Shyamal Chakravorty with tears
in his eyes. The family members are still in the state panic. Mr. Chakarvorty
privately admitted to me that they don't dare to stay in the house at night,
during the night the members move out to safer shelter. I asked one volunteer,
a student of mine I found in the village, to take necessary step for their
safety.
The image of Lord Shiva, the god
of destruction- also called Pashupatinath, was just adjacent to the house
wherein the beasts in human form were performing the heinous crime but
Lord failed to protect his worshipers. Lord Shiva might say in his defence,
'I am the lord of the beasts not of the beasts in human form'. The local
gods were more powerful than the gods living in heaven. I deeply felt for
the poor girl who at least every year on the sacred occasion of the day
of Shiva-Chaturdashi pouring milk on the head of Shiva must have been praying
to Lord Shiva for a good husband for her. Even the all powerful Allah,
the almighty, omnipresence, the absolute merciful did not come to the rescue
of the poor girl, rather He just saw His followers committing the unpardonable
crime in absolute silence! If the poor girl ask now "does Shiva exist,
is Allah all merciful or does He exist? Did the God create us or we created
Him ?" Who will answer this agonizing question of the poor girl?
The poor girl is Shilpi, - yes she
looks like an artist, innocent looking with a typical charm and grace of
a Bengali girl. As we saw her she appeared mentally shocked but with definite
sign of recovering from the experience of that dreadful night. She talked
to us with soft voice steadily and gave intelligent answers to our endless
queries but avoiding any personal question or asking her about the dreadful
experience. She herself told us that she had no idea that men could be
such inhuman beasts. She also received some physical injuries including
a head injury of a torch-strike from one of the beasts; she is now under
medical treatment. When we tried to inspire her saying that she should
not think that she has become impure as this anti social crime had been
committed by some anti-socials in which she had nothing to do, she kept
mum for a while then replied with tears "how can I forget it, Jyataha (a
term used in Bangla to indicate elder brother of the father), but I would
definitely try to stand on my feet. Please bless me to do that. Be on my
side." She promised us to continue her study. She is a student of
class X reading at local Malati Bahumukhi Uchcha Vidyalay.
We all blessed her with deep sincerity
and tears in our eyes. But to how many we can reach personally and utter
such empty reassuring blessings- numbers are increasing alarmingly. And
we know deep in our heart that we are as helpless as they are. This question
as coming from Shiilpi is the question of Purnimas, Ritas, Rezinas, Rajufas
..... and hundreds and thousands like them "Where lies its end ?". Do we
know the answer really or the way to stop it? At least I don't think
our social leaders, our civil society, our politicians.. have any answer
!
The Family
The family headed by priest Shyamal
Chakravorty, a middle aged man seemed to be well respected and relatively
well to do. He has 12 Phakis ( 1 Phaki == 30 decimals) i.e. 360 decimals
cultivable lands. Most of these lands are being cultivated by the system
known as barga. Barga-system of cultivation is a temporary lease of land
on conciliation that a fixed portion of crop will be paid as revenue. Shyamal
Babu earns his livelihood through practicing priesthood - a profession
followed by a class of Brahmins who perform Hindu rituals associated with
Hindu way of life such as worshiping of deities, marriages and many other
Hindu festivals. Shyamal Babu, father of two sons and only daughter being
youngest, have two brothers - elder one Babu Ashutosh Chakaravorty, assistant
head pundit of Gaibandha government school and younger one Babu Ramen Chakravorty,
an officer in the office of AC land. The family has some land dispute with
one Nabin Pramanik who grabbed about 12 decimal of land of Shyamal Babu.
The case of the dispute was dismissed when the two parties agreed to come
to a settlement. But when the demarcation was made properly by a settlement
officer the other party refused to accept it, and after a few days the
line of demarcation was dismantled; Nabin Pramanik took forcible control
over the disputed land once again.
The Police version
Initially police was reluctant to
take the case as a powerful coterie in the name of compromise and settlement
tried to hush up the entire episode. Bewildered father took the help of
the UP chairman and a local UP member with whose initiative the police
became active and arrested two culprits, at the instruction of the SP Manikganj,
before the formal case was filed. On the following day i.e. 29th April
afternoon a case was formally filed under criminal penal code section 9(3)/30,
of Act of coercion against repression on Women and Children of 2000. The
case number is 25 dated 29. 04. 03 at Shibalay police station. The OC told
us that although investigation has been progressing they are convinced
that this is a case of gang raping and local anti social elements are involved
in it. Mr. Khondkar Shafiqul Islam, a young energetic officer assured us
that a through investigation is on and they have appealed to the appropriate
authority to take up the case in rapid action special tribunal. The plaintiff
is the victim herself and there are four accused so far : Akkas Ali alias
Aku Gazi, s/o late Akali Gazi, Mannan, s/o Balai Sheikh, Lutfar Rahman,
s/o Nabin Pramanik (with whom the priest has land dispute), Shahadat Hosen
Khadu, s/o Waziuddin. The OC further informed us that although clinical
and medical examinations were done its report not yet arrived. However
the police at Shibalay have received report of the chemical examination
of forensic department at Dhaka. And its report is convincing and positive.
Reaction of the villagers
When we visited the village a large
number of common villagers accompanied us - many acted as volunteering
guides. The up chairman was upset at the incidence and told us that priest
is an honest man and well respected. He opined that misguided youths and
an interested coterie out of greed of grabbing the property committed this
violent crime. He assured us that he would see that the wretched family
is not humiliated any more. Jabbar Mian newly elected union parisad chairman
also expressed the same opinion. He said the village is traditionally a
peaceful- we live in harmony with different communities with no trouble.
Only a handful of professional goondas and hooligans create this kind of
social problems occasionally. One common villager, a bearded gentleman
declaring himself as Chand Shekh, expressed his indignation over the entire
incident and asked for extreme punishment. He said if the punishment is
not given to anti-socials they would go to extreme, in fact they have already
gone. And gentle and timid families like those of Shyamal Chakravorty would
have to leave the village for good. With a pleasant surprise I met a student
of mine Shankar Prasad Bhowmik at the Dahka University. According him the
main objective, though a greed for property, was to create a panicky situation
with atrocious activities so that family leaves the country to India. This
would enable them to grab the abandoned property with ease. He emphatically
opined that this is a message to all minority families living here. When
I asked him how many families are in the village; only seven and in the
adjacent village Dhanapara another ten, he answered. He further informed
that situation was not that bad, even one or two decades before- a sizable
number Hindu families used to live in here, he lamented. The situation
is a familiar picture through out Bangladesh. Hindu families are migrating
steadily but surely.
Jus before entering the village
Aruaya, we talked to a group of young men who came forward seeing us. I
asked them to show us the way to the village of the affected family. I
sat, feeling a bit tired on the bench before a blacksmith-workshop. I asked
two young man named Kamruzzaman and Amzad Hosen what and how do they feel
about the incident. Both said that although they have seen neither the
priest nor his daughter, but they heard that the family is well respected
and gentle. According to them the real motive behind the incident was to
terrorize the minority family, as they are easily susceptible to pressure
so that the family flee away to India. The culprits then could occupy the
property forcibly with out much trouble. They also opined that the culprits
should be brought to justice. But would the justice come to the rescue
of Shilpi ? Who knows. Before we left the village we appealed to the villagers
to take good care of the family.
We took leave of the family and
assemble villagers on way to Faridpur at about 2 pm.
