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'He could not elaborate why it took him two hours to mobilise the villagers'

The door opened into a small dispensary which was ransacked and littered with bottles. Behind that, on both sides of a corridor were four small bedrooms. On one end was the dining room and the chapel. Stairs led up to an open terrace. One could see from there for miles around. It became evident that any sound from there could have reached the far distance, given the silence of the countryside. We spoke to one of the chowkidars who was hanging around. He said he was not on duty on that fateful night and he knew nothing but he was very sad at what had happened.

Driving out of the ashram grounds, we stopped at a nearby hut where there were several women with children. We asked them how they felt now that the Sisters had gone away. The women were visibly upset and openly expressed their hurt. 'Who would care for our children?' they cried, showing their ragged and emaciated children. Full of praises for the sisters, they recounted the care and concern with which the Sisters responded to their needs. It was not only that they gave them medicines and taught them hygiene, they also held informal classes. 'Our children get no education because the teacher hardly attends, but the sisters gave them lessons', they told us with sadness and resignation.

Our next stop was the school building at Kalyanpura, which had been set up as a temporary camp for us. First we questioned the two chowkidars who were on duty that night. They said they had slept off in the Father's house instead of performing their duty. Upon our questioning their dereliction of duty, they responded that since they work during the day they need to sleep at night. Having closed the doors of the house, they heard nothing. They were woken up by the villagers at 4 am. They said the police had thoroughly questioned them on this matter. Nothing more could be obtained from them.

Next we spoke to five persons who first arrived on the scene of the crime. We asked when was it that they heard the emergency whistle blown by the sisters. One of them, a young man, said he was patrolling the fields (since people steal the bhutta cop at night) when he heard the whistling sound coming from the Preeti Sharan Ashram. He went to collect some more people since he was afraid of going alone. He claimed to have heard the sounds of the Sisters' screams. But it was only after he had collected the others that they approached the ashram. He could not elaborate why it took him two hours to mobilise the villagers.

The others who corroborated the statement were all Christians: one woman and three men. The woman, Veronica, was the person whom the Sisters had asked for from the village Barog.

We then called the SHO who registered the FIR and was the fist to arrive at the scene of the crime. He said the Father had come to the Kalyanpura PS to lodge the FIR. He then rushed to Navapara where, having examined the devastation of the premises, he proceeded to take the statements of the Sisters. He had also seized and sealed their soiled garments. He then dispatched the Sisters with escort to the Jhabua hospital for medical examination. We asked why was it that he reached the scene at 7:30 am and the examination was conducted at 9 pm, ie, it took more than 12 hours? We asked if he was aware that the first responsibility of the police was to obtain relief of the victims? We were told that since Kalyanpura PS was on the way to Jhabua, the sisters stopped there and it was there that the delay occurred. We then visited the Kalyanpura Thana and spoke to the magistrate who had taken the statements of the four Sisters. We asked why were the nuns detained in the Thana for so many hours?

We learnt that the delay was due to the fact that the Fathers accompanying the Sisters insisted that they give their statement before a magistrate. They also waited for the arrival of the bishop of Indore who came to the Thana at 4 pm. All this bandobast delayed the medical attention for several hours; finally the Sisters were sent to the Jhabua district hospital. At the thana we also met with Dilip Singh Bhuria, former MP from the area who had represented Jhabua for five terms. He also attested to the fact that the tribals were known for stealing and that some areas like Alirajpur had the highest crime rate in South Asia but he insisted that the tribals were not rapists. He blamed the politicisation of the Thana and declared that three SP's had been transferred in one year.

On reaching Indore we met Kantilal Bhuria, MP who represents Jhabua-Ratlam constituency. He too blamed the politicians who had incited the tribals to perpetrate this dastardly deed. While in Jhabua, we had left instructions that the team of doctors who had examined the Sisters should be sent to Indore since they could not reach Kalyanpura in time. Consequently the team comprising Dr Mrs Gupta and Dr Smita Tiwari reached Indore at 1.30 am. The NCW team questioned them about their statement in which they had given no opinion about rape. They informed the team that a third doctor from the mission, one Dr Wilson was also present at the examination on the request of the victims and the Father who had accompanied the victims. We asked if they always withheld their opinion in rape cases since external injuries were not always visible or even inflicted? They said in the case of an eleven year old they had certified rape. We asked if they had ever seen rape cases among tribals in this area, they said that they were asked to examine such cases every day. This was the only time the team had heard that rape was rampant among the tribals; so far everyone had said that rape among the tribals was unheard of.

The second MLC was conducted by a team of four doctors from Indore on the four victims on September 25, ie, three days after the medical. The team consisted of two obstetricians and gynaecologists, one surgeon and one demonstrator of forensic medicine and toxicologist. In their report, they stated that the evidence of injuries was present as described. They stated that the vaginal smear slides and swab had been preserved for examination by the forensic laboratory. We regret that this crucial report from the laboratory was not made available to the Commission at the time of writing this report. However, the fact that force was used and the act was done without consent is very clear and evident from the MLC report, since injuries were present even after three days had elapsed.

'Such a deed could not have been motivated purely by lust and loot'

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