Suryanelli- Will the victim get justice?

Suryanelli: What the police failed to do:
1. They did not verify the veracity or otherwise of the victim's statement: to identify the accused, to examine other witnesses mentioned by the victim including accused Dharmarajan and Jamal and witness Cherian of the guest house and other inmates or persons present at the guest house, etc. 
2. They did not subject the accused / suspect to polygraph examination and also verify his alibi thoroughly. For example, they did not examine the driver of the car or examine the logbooks of the vehicle and also verify phone calls to the phones of other accomplices. Dharmarajan, the main accused, who was an advocate, was purchasing power and influence by selling the victimized and enslaved teenage girl. He was absconding during the investigation. Without examining him and Jamal and Cherian, how could the police come to the conclusion that the version of the victim identifying the Congress leader as one of the persons who violated her, could not be believed. One of the 42 accused who was also convicted in the case, was the Kottayam DCC Secretary. The alibi of Shri PJ Kurien is now found to have a number of loopholes.

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Suryanelli 1996-2013 - Seventeen long years of trauma for the victim and family

Suryanelli 1996-2013
http://www.asianetnews.tv/suryanelli/

Suryanelli is a sleepy village near Munnar  in the High Ranges of Idukki District, of Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu, India.
On January 16, 1996, a Postmaster and his nurse wife found that their youngest girl, a school student aged 16,  did not return from school. She was found missing. They approached the police and ran from pillar to post for 40 days to get some information on their missing child and to trace her. After 40 days their child returns in a physically and mentally devastated state. She was gang-raped by 42 men during that period.  On medical examination her private parts were bleeding to the touch.

The teenage girl, a victim of abduction, sexual slavery, gang-rape and prostitution, was studying in the 9th Std in a school nearby. She was abducted by Raju, a bus-conductor, who trapped her feigning love. After raping her, he sold her to a pimp Usha. Usha and her associate Dharma Rajan, an Advocate then kept the girl in illegal confinement under threat of death and transported her from place to place in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and sold her to be gang-raped and prostituted by 42 men.

35 of those who sexually abused her were convicted by the Sessions Court, Kottayam in 2000.  But the High Court of Kerala acquitted all of them except Dharma Rajan. In an appeal filed by the State in 2005, after eight long years, the Supreme Court in January 2013 set aside the acquittal of the accused and directed the High Court of Kerala to re-hear the case.

Though the victim girl alleged that she was also raped by a Senior Congress leader in a Government Guest House where she was taken by Dharma Rajan and Jamal, the police believed the leader's alibi instead of the victim's version and did not proceed against the politician.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATo_WMCuDmo

The parents
The parents of the victim speak of the sufferings that they went through and about their traumatic experience for 17 long years. They have suffered and still suffer ostracism from relations, friends and society at large and they live a secluded life, with two daughters, the victim now aged 32 and her elder sister. No one is ready to marry them.  Just before the case came up for hearing in the Supreme Court, the victim girl who has been working as a peon in a government agency (State Commercial Taxes Department), was framed by her superior officer in a misappropriation case and was forced to remit the misappropriated money, under threat that she would be arrested by the police. She sold her gold jewels and withdrew money from her savings and remitted the money, though she had nothing to do with the alleged misappropriation of funds. The interview exposes the corruption in the police and their unhelpful attitude. The family even thought of committing suicide. But better sense prevailed and they decided to fight it out against an unjust system, with strength from the God in whom they believed.
http://www.asianetnews.tv/latest-news/4717-suryanelli-parents-in-point-blank-part-one
http://www.asianetnews.tv/top-news/4710-suryanelli-parents-in-point-blank-part-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GOlPP4IgAjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ddS7741n5n8

The victim
Here is an interview of the victim and the trauma she has been undergoing for the past seventeen years. This is her heart-breaking story after 17 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Kqr8f4hy8


-Joseph Ponnoly

Violence against women - preventive measures

Violence Against Women in India: Preventive Measures


Rathod and Gundappa (2012) in their article analyze violent crimes against women from birth to death. They also list some of the countermeasures to combat this violence.
The roles of NGOs and the Government are highlighted. These include legislation and women welfare schemes. They have indicated the need for a national strategy to deal with the problem.
http://www.isrj.net/publishArticles/796.pdf

Reference:
Rathod P.B., & Gundappa, A. (2012). Violence Against Women in India: Preventive Measures. Indian Streams Research Journal, vol. 2, Issue Iv/May 2012, pp. 1-4.

http://www.isrj.net/publishArticles/796.pdf

Gang-rape

Gangrape -- India's new nightmare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-LXuO6Bf1M
Gang rape is committed for revenge and not necessarily for sexual gratification.
Women are the vulnerable sections of society. Women are not treated equally by men.

Victims
Rape and gang rape lead to humiliation, shame, pain and suffering for the victims.
Victims are blamed and shunned from society.
They go through stigma and trauma.

Causes:
Liberalization and globalization, visual media depicting sexual violence.
TV, Movies, Pornography on the Internet having tremendous influence on people.
Aggressiveness and violence in society.
liquor bars.
Subordination of women in society.
Sexual morality is crumbling.
Use of force for sexual gratification.

Insensitivity of the criminal justice system.
Criminal justice system is neither prompt nor effective.
Powerful people use money power or influence to get away with crime.
Lack of fear of law.

Sexual Violence - Punjab

An ASI (Asst Sub Inspector of Police) Ravinder Pal Singh was shot dead by a politician of the Akali Dal party in Punjab.The ASI was trying to defend his daughter from eve-teasing by the politician.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1pjhEJkMVSs#

Existing laws can  protect women. But a  broken criminal justice system leads to impunity for criminals and lack of fear of law.

Law enforcement does not promote deterrence.

Sociologists feel that sexual repression leads to sexual aggression. Others feel that the system of education does not help to inculcate moral values in the youth.

The transitional society in India promotes arrogance of power and arrogance of wealth and a trigger-happy upper class.

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Gender Violence

In the developed world women are equal to men. But in many of the developing countries including India, women suffer indignity and human rights violations ranging from female infanticide to domestic violence, just because they are women. Prime causes are tradition, religion and  prejudice against women.

In 2009 in Managalore, India, young girls were beaten up and driven out of a pub just because they were women and were not supposed to drink.

45% of Indian women are subjected to violence of all sorts. This involves physical and mental torture. Many of these incidents are not reported because of social stigma.  Inefficiency of the Indian justice system to provide quick and effective relief, makes it worse for the victims.

Nari Adalat formed in 1996 is a proposed solution to solve cases without legal hassles.

Watch this documentary titled "Violence against Women in India" produced by IIM Ahmedabad
http://youtu.be/tNHMFZgPUwM

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Human trafficking in India

Human trafficking is an affront to human dignity.
By threat, fraud, abduction or deception,  children --both male and female, girls and women are forced into flesh trade. children are auctioned off as a domestic workers, children are sold as child labor in factories
girls are promised jobs and forced to work in ayurvedic massage parlors, girls are promised decent jobs as receptionists and sold to dancing bars, children are exploited by sex tourists, the modus operandi is varied and diverse.

There is need to create awareness of the crime, to rehabilitate victims, to bring the perpetrators to justice and to break the network of traffickers and organized crime.

No human being deserves to be enslaved.

This video is an eye-opener on the wide ramifications of this organized crime:
http://youtu.be/9yJWvphsa3A

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