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Women brutally attacked by police in Punjab

Neena Chaudhary in Moga

Rajiana, a remote village with a dominant Jat Sikh population, lives in fear of police repression.

The fears are not unfounded as two young women of the village were brutally attacked by the police recently. Their fault: along with their parents, they were scheduled to depose before a court in a criminal case involving a legislator of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, Sadhu Singh, who also belongs to the village.

On August 16, hell descended on the family of Jarnail Singh, when a large force, including commandos, led by Assistant Sub-Inspector Gurmail Singh of Baghapurana police station under Moga district scaled the walls and entered the house.

As no male member was present, they targeted Jarnail Singh's daughters, Jaswinder, who is unmarried, and Gurcharan Kaur, a widow. Jarnail and his brother Rajinder have not been home for almost two months to escape the police, while their other brother Lakhbir is in prison.

The incident was first brought to light by a human rights and social organisation, Insaaf International, whose general secretary, Dr Vineeta Gupta, and her associate Ved Prakash Gupta conducted an inquiry and published their report, "Wolf in Police Uniform".

The Insaaf team, which interviewed the victims, their relatives and witnesses said Gurmail Singh hurled vulgar abuses at Gurcharan Kaur, who had an infant in her lap.

According to the Insaaf report as well as witnesses, the police officer then ripped Jaswinder's shirt. When she tried to cover her nakedness with her dupatta, he seized it and tore it as well.

The women of the household said the ASI then unbuttoned his trousers and made obscene gestures.

Jaswinder told rediff.com that Gurmail tried to abduct the two sisters, which provoked the other women to raise an alarm.

On hearing the screams, neighbours collected in the street, which had been blocked on both sides so that no one could come near the house.

But the commandos accompanying Gurmail Singh objected to his brutal behaviour. "The commandos said they had come to arrest the male members and not torment hapless women. This forced Gurmail to leave," says Paramjit Kaur, the mother of the two women, who now manages the shop run by Jarnail in the village.

But Gurmail Singh threatened to come back. He said if the family did not withdraw the case against Sadhu Singh, the girls would be paraded naked in the village next time.

The women also claimed that Gurmail took away a tractor belonging to the family. After local newspapers carried the Insaaf report on August 27, the police again raided the family and took away its jeep, to teach them a lesson for approaching Insaaf International and the media.

Regarding the background of the dispute, Jarnail told rediff.com on the phone that the rivalry between him and Sadhu Singh dated back to 1991.

Jarnail said Sadhu Singh was supporting his brother, Nacchattar Singh, in a dispute over the possession of a piece of land left behind by an uncle. The dispute is in court.

In December 1991, with the support of Sadhu Singh's men, Nacchattar attacked Jarnail and his three other brothers. In a case, which was registered against one Jagjit Singh and others, including Sadhu Singh, Jarnail Singh and his family are the key witnesses.

Prior to the latest incident, Jarnail had been picked up and tortured many times by local police to press him to withdraw his case, he said.

Sadhu Singh told the Insaaf team that he had no personal dispute or litigation with Jarnail Singh, though he admitted helping the party opposed to Jarnail. He expressed ignorance of the police raid on Jarnail's home.

The legislator said that recently he had met the chief minister. On the CM's orders the home secretary had written to the senior superintendent of police, Moga, recommending quashing of a long-standing criminal case against him. But SSP Satya Sharad Yadav told Insaaf that there was nothing regarding withdrawal of the case in that letter, which had instructions for conducting an inquiry into it.

But Yadav denied any knowledge of the police raid, though some newspapers have quoted him as saying that the entire episode was being politicised. He assured full justice to the victims as soon as he got any complaint, but gave a clean chit to the MLA saying that the latter was a "good person".

Dr Gupta told rediff.com from her office in Bhatinda that Insaaf International had sought the immediate dismissal of Gurmail Singh and registration of criminal cases under appropriate sections. The daughters of Jarnail Singh have been given an administrative assurance to that they will not be harassed in future.

It also demanded that the Punjab assembly conduct an inquiry into the role of Sadhu Singh in the attack.

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