“barriers to justices” and scheduled caste...

A Research Study

“Barriers to Justices” and Scheduled Caste Women

Research Area: - Solapur, Kolhapur and Nashik Districts of Maharashtra

Study period: - 1st December 2004 to 30th November 2009

Supported By: - Minority Rights Group International

Research Compiled By: - Dr. Ambedkar Sheti Vikas Va Sansodhan Sanstha 211, Indira Nagar, Link Road, Goregaon (West), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

CONTENTS CONTENTS..................................................................................................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 3

ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 4

PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................. 6

1. OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................................................... 8

2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 8

3. STUDY AREA ...................................................................................................................................10

4. BASIC INFORMATION OF STUDY DISTRICTS...................................................................................11

5. DALIT WOMEN IN MAHARASHTRA................................................................................................12

6. ATROCITY RATE IN MAHARASHTRA .............................................................................................13

INFORMATION ON ATROCITY RECEIVED BY RTI..........................................................................................15

ANALYSIS OF CRIME AGAINST SC WOMEN.................................................................................................17

1. Crime rates..........................................................................................................................................17

2. Under‐reporting of violence ...............................................................................................................18

3. Violence experienced by SC women ...................................................................................................18

ANALYSIS SC WOMEN’S ACCESS TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM .........................................................................22

1. Delays in filing the FIR .........................................................................................................................24

2. Delays in arresting the accused ..........................................................................................................26

3. Granting of Bail ...................................................................................................................................28

4. Filing of the Charge Sheet ...................................................................................................................30

5. Convictions..........................................................................................................................................32

OBSERVATION OF SOME CASES..................................................................................................................36

CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................37

RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................38

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REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................39

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

May heartfelt thanks to my Colleagues throughout the journey: Kathryn Ramsay,

Veronique Dion from MRG, Manjula Pradeep from Navsarjan for providing the trigger,

context and concept for this research.

I am also grateful to Shiv Kumar for designing the Cover page of this research study. I

am also indebted to Manjula Pradeep, Adv. Sushmaji, Archana More, Masum,

Prasannaji, NCAS, Milind Babar, Lok Vikas Samajik Sanstha for patiently going

through the draft and giving their critical comments and feedback.

I would like to thank the research team lead by Prabha Yadav & Ms. Mala Nimbadkar.

During research they were supported by Adv. Sunayana Thorat in Solapur, Kalpana

Mohite in Kolhapur and Priyanka Adhangale in Nashik. Sunita Pagare, Nashik and

Ganesh Kamble DVP member have played a supportive role at the local level.

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ABBREVIATIONS

RTI Right To Information Act 2005

DV The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005

POA Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

IPC Indian Penal Code

CRPC Criminal procedure Code.

DVP Dalit Vikas Parishad

ASVSS Dr. Ambedkar Sheti Vikas va Sanshodhan Sanstha

S Solapur

K Kolhapur

N Nashik

MRG Minority Rights Group International

LCB Local Crime Branch

SWO Social Welfare Office

NHRC National Human Right Commission

NCRB National Crime Record Bureau

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PREFACE

Since 2007, under the Dalit Women Empowerment’ programme groups of 25-30 dalit

women activists from Maharashtra are receiving various skills, training and inter-state

exposure which is facilitated by Navsarjan, Gujarat. Manjula Pradeep, Director of

Navsarjan took keen interest in building DVP Women Groups in Maharashtra & linking

them with MRG.

In a national level women’s group (WING) meeting, the group discussed and decided

to work on issue of Women’s Security. Ms. Prabha Yadav participated in the meeting

and represented DVP and Maharashtra. Concerning the plight of SC women and their

unequal status, denial of human rights and legal security, a research project on the

access of SC women to justice mechanism was taken up in Gujarat, Maharashtra and

Tamil Nadu.

In Maharashtra, Dalit Vikas Parishad was to lead research under the guidance of its

Convener Prabha Yadav and legal and administrative responsibility was taken by Mr.

Tukaram Kamble, Secretary of Dr. Ambedkar Sheti Vikas Va Sansodhan Sanstha

(ASVSS). The research was funded by Minority Right Group International (MRG), UK.

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Throughout the journey, Ms. Manjula Pradeep, Navsarjan had been very supportive.

Likewise, Archana More, Masum, Milind Babar, Lok Vikas Samajik Sanstha and Lalit

Babar, ASVSS have given their valuable comments on this final report of the research.

INTRODUCTION

“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality,

development and peace.”—Kofi Annan The important aspect of social lives now-a-days is mostly confined to the gender issues in various socio-economic-health-demographic and cultural classifications of people in India. Atrocities on females of any age are the regular feature in our social, political and cultural lives. Unfortunately females are in a historical process neglected at the helm of men dominated society.

Constitution of India provides equality to women and also empowers the state to adopt measures in favour of women to upgrade them from their disadvantage status in terms of socio-economic, education and political scenario. Several articles of the constitution of India such as, equality (Article 14), no discrimination by the State (Article 15(1)), equality of opportunity (Article 16), equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)). In addition, it allows special provisions to be made by the State in favour of women and children (Article 15(3)), renounces practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e)), and also allows for provisions to be made by the State for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief (Article 42).

Besides, being women, caste; another harsh reality of Indian society plays its discriminatory part in India. In a male dominated society, Dalit women suffered unimaginable oppression, not only through caste, but gender too, from which there was no escape. The scheduled caste women are thrice discriminated, treated as untouchables and as outcastes, due to their caste, face gender discrimination being women and finally economic impoverishment due to unequal wage disparity, with low or underpaid labour. Even as we are in the 21st millennium, caste discrimination, an age-old practice that dehumanizes and perpetuates a cruel form of discrimination continues to be practiced. India where the practice is rampant despite the existence of a legislation to stop this, 160 million Dalits of which 49.96% are women continue to suffer discrimination. The situation of SC women in India needs special attention, thus there are several acts and policies to protect the rights of women had been enacted by the government of India.

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Although all laws are not gender specific, the provisions of law affecting women significantly have been reviewed periodically and amendments carried out to keep pace with the emerging requirements. Some acts which have special provisions to safeguard women and their interests are:

(i) The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 (ii) The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 (iii) The Family Courts Act, 1954 (iv) The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (v) The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (vi) The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 with amendment in 2005 (vii) Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (viii) The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995) (ix) Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (x) The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (xi) The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976 (xii) The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (xiii) The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (xiv) The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983 (xv) The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1986 (xvi) Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 (xvii) Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (xviii) The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (xix) Devdasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982

Besides these above special laws, the following sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) are also applicable for the protection of women from any form of violence. The Crimes Identified Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

(i) Rape (Sec. 376 IPC) (ii) Kidnapping & Abduction for different purposes ( Sec. 363-373) (iii) Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B

IPC) (iv) Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC) (v) Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC) (vi) Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC) (vii) Importation of girls (up to 21 years of age)

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While there are plethora of laws available on paper to prove that the government is taking care of women’s and their rights, but it is interesting to see the implementation of these acts and laws. In case of SC women, there is need to study the implementation of

the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to violence against women.

1. OBJECTIVES

1. To analyse data on cases of violence against SC women in selected districts of

Maharashtra.

2. To understand the forms and intensity of violence experienced by women.

3. To assess the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in providing remedy for those SC women who are victims of violence.

4. To illustrate through case studies the experiences of some SC women victims.

5. To provide recommendations for improving timely delivery of justice to the SC women victims of violence.

2. METHODOLOGY In the first stage of the research, the study districts were selected after looking at the following aspects:

a) Rates of atrocity.

b) Population of SC Women.

c) Presence of DVP and associates.

ASVSS had been working in the western Maharashtra for a long time. Thus Solapur, Kolhapur and Nashik districts were selected for research looking at the above aspects. DVP associates Lokvikas Samajik Sanstha, headed by Milind Babar, also joined us in the research.

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Data collection The research is based on the authentic and reliable data from the enforcement authorities. The data was collected from these authorities after filing RTI. An application under the Right to Information Act (RTI) was filed in the respective districts with offices of the Superintendent of Police. The applications requested data on recorded cases of violence against SC women in the last 5 years, i.e. cases from 1st December 2004 to 30th November 2009. The RTI application requested specific information on:

• Violence against Dalit women by Non-Dalits • Violence against Dalit women by other Dalits • Accidental Death of Dalit women

Requests were made for data under the following Acts:

• SC/ST Prevention of Atrocity Act 1989

• Indian Penal Code

In the RTI application, we asked for details about the victim and the case, including

1- The caste of the victim and the accused, the relationship (if any) between the victim and accused. The date of the First Information Report (FIR) and charges invoked in it. The date of arrest of the accused, the date of bail, the date of filing of the Charge Sheet and the charges invoked in the same. The status of the case including conviction, acquittal and pending cases.

From the Social Welfare Office, information on any compensation paid to SC women victims of violence over the time period.

The Domestic Violence Act of 2005 was not included in the study, because the process of dealing with Domestic Violence Act is different from the cases under the Indian Penal Code or SC/ST PoA Act. Under the Domestic Violence Act, the cases are reported to the Protection Officer. The role of the Protection Officer is to inform the victim of her rights and to obtain a Protection Order which might grant money, custody or residence, her right to access services including free legal advice and her right to file a complaint under section 498A of the IPC. Therefore, cases under the Domestic Violence Act are not

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Cruelty to a married woman/Dowry Matters

Accidental/Unnatural Deaths

similar to the criminal cases under the other Acts included in this study unless Section 498A of the IPC is invoked.

The data we received following the RTI application under section 498A of the IPC on violence against Dalit women by Dalits was not comprehensive enough and many of the details were missing. Therefore, on our experts’ advice, we also filed an application with the Solapur District Court asking for cases registered in during the project duration i.e. 1st March 2004 to 31st November 2009, asking for the number of cases registered in those years by SC women. Data Analysis The collected data was further analyzed to different forms and intensity of violence carried out against SC women. The effectiveness of the criminal justice system in providing justice to SC women victims was also evaluated. The analysis included: -

1. Numbers of cases registered with each police station, 2. Nature of the crimes and the delays at various stages of the justice process.

The analysis also examined the outcomes of the cases.

3. STUDY AREA

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Maharashtra is the third largest state in India both in area and population. The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, Gujarat in the north west, Madhya Pradesh in

the north and the east, Andhra Pradesh in the south east and Karnataka and Goa in the south. The state of Maharashtra has an area of 307,713 sq. km. and a population of 96.88 million. There are 37 districts, 358 blocks and 43711 villages. The State has population density of 314 per sq. km.

The total population of Maharashtra, as per the 2001 Census, is 96,878,627. Of this, 9,881,656 (10.2 per cent) are Scheduled Castes (SCs). The SC population constitutes 5.9 per cent of the country’s SC population. Fifty nine (59) SCs have been notified in Maharashtra under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976. According to the 2001 census, Maharashtra’s total population is 96,878,647. Out of this, the SC population is 9,881,656 that is 10.2% (Excluding Neo-Buddhist). The overall sex ratio of the SC population in Maharashtra is 952 females per 1000 males, which is higher than 922 reported for state population as a whole at 2001 Census.

4. BASIC INFORMATION OF STUDY DISTRICTS • Kolhapur District

• The overall population of Kolhapur district is 3, 523, 162

• The Scheduled Caste population is 449,641 i.e. 12.8% of the district population

• The SC Women’s population is 219,292 i.e. 48.77% of the overall SC population

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• Solapur District

• The overall population of Solapur district is 3,849,543

• The Scheduled Caste population is 578,123 i.e. 15% of the total district


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• Nashik District

• The population of Nashik district is 4,993,796

• The Scheduled Caste population is 426,516 i.e. 8.5% of the district population


The percentage of Scheduled Castes population to the total district population varies across the three districts, it ranges from 8.5% in the district of Nashik to 15% in the district of Solapur.

5. DALIT WOMEN IN MAHARASHTRA

Maharashtra State is known for its progress and progressive perception; however, the weaker sections of society are still deprived and discriminated because of their low social status in the society. Social status and gender constraint is used as weapon of humiliation and cause of violence by dominant castes. SC women face trauma of social, sexual and physical abuse; women in unorganized occupations face economic exploitation also. In specific districts of Maharashtra State, namely Solapur, Kolhapur and Sangli, the Devadasi System (a form of religiously sanctioned prostitution) is practiced. Then in urban cities like Pune and Mumbai, women working as prostitutes are mainly from Dalit and Muslim communities.

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6. ATROCITY RATE IN MAHARASHTRA The table below describes the numbers of crimes committed against the whole Scheduled Caste population in the state of Maharashtra which were registered with the police between 2004 and 2009. Table 1: Atrocity Case in Maharashtra (2004 to 2009)

Years Forms of

Atrocity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total

Murder 10 15 21 16 23 27 112

Rape 63 83 87 80 93 105 511

Kidnapping 9 8 5 13 24 10 69

Robbery 6 5 11 2 17 20 61

Forced Robbery*

6 6 7 11 6 8 44

Arson 11 7 9 19 10 8 64

Physical Injuries 53 52 57 78 97 56 393

Crimes under Protection of

Civil Right Act 26 32 36 20 20 24 158

Crimes under PoA Act

219 258 350 370 334 391 1922

Others 312 399 470 557 568 547 2853

Total 715 865 1053 1166 1192 1096

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* Forced robbery refers to when (mainly young) SC/ST persons are forced into committing robbery or are otherwise deceived and commit acts of theft.

If we look at the figure of rapes, there has been a gradual increase in reported cases of rapes from 63 cases in 2004 to 105 in 2009. The only year where the number was lower is the year 2007. The number of crimes registered under the PoA Act, had also increased significantly from over 200 crimes in 2004 to 400 in 2009. This suggests that social injustices and caste based violence is on increase in Maharashtra. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports, “67% of cases between 1992 and 2000 and 65% between 2001 and 2007 were not registered under the SC and ST (PoA) Act” when they should have been, thereby denying SC & ST victims the protection of the PoA Act. The number of which were registered under the PoA Act, in 84.4% of cases, wrong provisions were applied to conceal the heinous, inhuman and violent nature of the atrocities committed.1

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1 National Coalition for Strengthening SC&ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, “The Status of Implementation and need for Amendments in Prevention of Atrocities Act, India”, NCDHR, p.5

INFORMATION ON ATROCITY RECEIVED BY RTI Information provided on crimes against SC women by Non-SC For cases of violence against SC women by non-SC we received information from an average of 36.5% of police stations in the three districts. Table 2a: Information provided on crimes against SC women by Non-SC

District Total number of Police Stations in

the District

Number of Police Stations that provided

information

Percentage of Police Stations that provided

information Solapur 26 13 50% Kolhapur 24 7 29.2% Nashik 35 11 31.4% Total 85 31 36.5% Information provided on crimes against SC women by SC With respect to violence against SC women perpetrated by SCs under IPC sections, the data received in response to the RTI application also was incomplete. Only 10.6% of police stations in the 3 districts provided information. Table 2b: Information provided on crimes against SC women by SC


the District


information


information Solapur 26 3 11.5% Kolhapur 24 2 8.3% Nashik 35 4 11.4% Total 85 9 10.6% Information provided on Accidental Deaths of Dalit Women We received information on accidental deaths of Dalit women from a total of 18.8% of police stations. Again, Kolhapur district provided the least amount of information with only 2 police stations responding. Table 2c: Information provided on Accidental Deaths of Dalit Women

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the District


information


information

Solapur 26 6 23.7% Kolhapur 24 2 8.3% Nashik 35 8 22.9% Total 85 16 18.8% Despite having a legal duty under the RTI Act, a significant number of police stations failed to comply with the request for data. This means that the total number of reported crimes cited in this study is almost certainly not the total number of reported crimes in Maharashtra. Considering the absence of data on reported crimes from many police stations and the likelihood that many crimes are not reported to the police at all, it is reasonable to conclude that the overall levels of violence against SC women in Maharashtra is significantly higher than the figures cited in this study. Cases filed under the Application Procedure Registered criminal complaint data does not include non-grievous crimes of violence registered through use of an Application filing. Under an Application filing, an Application is forwarded to the sub-district magistrate under criminal procedure code section 107 which calls upon both parties to amicably settle only that part of the complaint which relates to breach of peace between the parties within six months. A Dalit victim of gender-violence is often illiterate of legal procedure and unfamiliar with the process for registering a complaint. A victim is often pressured into filing her complaint as an Application, and/or deceived into believing that the Application is the same as an F.I.R. Incomplete data received It is also important to highlight that the data we received through the RTI Act was incomplete. We requested information from all police stations in the study districts; however, most of them did not reply.

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ANALYSIS OF CRIME AGAINST SC WOMEN

1. Crime rates The figures collated; show that year by year there is not much of a variation in the numbers of atrocities reported to the police stations in the three districts between 2004 and 2009. Table 3b: Percentage of atrocity per 10,000 female Dalit populations (Year wise figures: 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov 2009)

Year wise number of reported cases of violence committed against SC women

District

SC women population

(as per 2001)

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

2008-2009

No info

Total

Incident of violence

per 10,000 SC women population

Sensi-tivity rank

Kolhapur 219292 8 12 14 9 6 0 49 2.33 1st

Nashik 208013 5 13 9 12 6 0 45 2.16 2nd

Solapur 281953 5 10 4 3 4 1 27 0.96 3rd

Total 709258 18 35 27 24 16 1 121 1.71

As per the analysis, the percentage of reported atrocities per 10,000 of the SC women population within the period of 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov 2009 would be lower than expected, because the data received through RTI was incomplete in nature. Ranking of the districts was done by calculating the population of SC women and number of atrocity cases in within the 5 years. Out of the three districts, Kolhapur is ranked first with 2.33 incidents of atrocities per 10,000 SC women. Solapur ranks third with is 0.95 incidents of atrocities; however, it must be noted that all 27 of the cases in Solapur were on grievous nature.

Table 3c: Grievous crimes committed against SC women by Non- SC 1st December 2004 – 30th November 2009

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Crime Solapur Kolhapur Nashik Total

Murder 1 -- -- 1 Rape 16 11 8 35 Outraging of Modesty 10 12 14 36 Physical Injury -- 2 12 14

Kidnapping -- 1 -- 1 Abduction -- -- -- -- Total of Grievous Crimes 27 26 34 87

2. Under-reporting of violence While analyzing the data on the numbers of reported cases of violent crimes against SC women, it is important to remember that many crimes go unreported and never appear in official records due to various reasons, ranging from non cooperation and reluctance of police to file the case under PoA Act to hesitation on the part of victim because of its poor socio-economic condition. In 2006, the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) published a detailed study on violence against dalit women in four states in India. Among the surveyed women victims of caste based violence, 40.2% were unable to seek any type of legal redress and 26.5% were blocked in their attempt to seek redress before they reached the police. The study also found that 1.6% of women obtained informal justice at the community level without involving the legal system and that 17.4% of women were blocked from obtaining legal redress either by the police or by other state actors. This means that that in 85.7% of instances of violence experienced by women in the four states, they were unable to take benefit or help of the legal system at all.2 This suggests that the official figures of numbers of incidents of violence against SC women reported to the police in Maharashtra could be significantly lower than the number of incidents that actually take place and go unreported.

3. Violence experienced by SC women

As this study focuses on crimes perpetrated against SC women on the basis of gender and caste.

It is evident that the basic human rights of SC women is frequently violated and are often described as the oppressed of the oppressed, the violence and oppression on them being more complex and manifold even compared to SC men. There is [an] inseparable relationship between caste status, occupation and discrimination. The SC woman faces triple discrimination because she is an untouchable, of a poor class and is a woman.

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2 Aloysius Irudayam S.J., Jayshree P. Mangubhai and Joel G. Lee, Dalit Women Speak Out: Violence Against Dalit Women in India, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, National Federation of Dalit Women, Institute of Development Education, Action and Studies, 2006, p. 499 ‐ 501

However, for a nuanced analysis of the data, it is necessary to differentiate between the types of crimes. For the purpose of this study we have grouped crimes using the following terms: Grievous cases: Murder, Rape, Attempt to Murder, Outraging of Modesty, Severe Physical Injuries, Kidnap and Abduction Non-Grievous cases: Physical abuse not resulting in injuries, Verbal abuse and mental harassment. a) Violence against SC Women by non-SCs Through the filing of the RTI application, data on 121 cases of violence against SC women by non-SCs was collected. Out of these, 72% were grievous cases and 28% were non-grievous. The following table shows the number of cases received per district. Table 2d: Violence against SC Women by non-SCs

Cases during 1st December 2004 to 30th November 2009

District Total cases

Non-Grievous

Percentage Grievous Percentage

Solapur 27 0 0% 27 100 % Kolhapur 49 23 46% 26 53% Nashik 45 11 24% 34 76% Total 121 34 28% 87 72%

It is notable that in Solapur District, 100% registered cases are of grievous form. In Nashik district, 76% are grievous cases and in Kolhapur district 53% are grievous cases. Of the 121 crimes against SC women collected: the cases are of 1 murder, 35 rapes, 36 cases of outraging of modesty, 14 serious physical injuries and 1 kidnapping case.

b) Violence against SC women by SCs From the RTI application, we received information on 101 cases of violence against SC women by Dalits. Solapur had the most number of cases, but all of the cases in Nashik were grievous nature. The cases included 3 murders, 1 attempt to murder, 6 rapes, 8 cases of outraging of modesty and 36 cases of subjecting a married woman to cruelty.

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Table 4a: Violence against SC women by SCs

District Total Cases Non-Grievous

Percentage Grievous Percentage

Solapur 52 23 44% 29 56% Kolhapur 22 21 95% 1 5% Nashik 27 -- -- 27 100% Total 101 44 44% 57 56% Table 4b: Forms of violence against SC women by SC in the three districts (1st December 2004 to 30th November 2009)

District Total Form of violence and IPC section

Solapur Kolhapur Nashik

Subjecting a married woman to cruelty (498(A)) 10 1 25 36

Attempted murder (306) 0 0 1 1 Murder (302) 2 0 1 3 Outraging of modesty (354) 8 0 0 8 Rape (376) 6 0 0 6 Serious physical injury (307) 0 0 0 0 Abduction (363) 2 0 0 2 Kidnapping (366) 0 0 0 0 Dowry crimes 0 0 0 0 Others* 24 21 0 45 Total crimes 52 22 27 101

* Crimes included in the ‘other’s category include intentional insult (IPC section 504), criminal intimidation (IPC section 506), causing an accident by negligence (IPC section 304 A) Table 4c: Violence against SC Women by SCs from 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov 2009

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Year wise number of reported cases of violence committed against SC women

District

SC women population

(as per 2001)

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

2008-2009

No info

Total

Incident of violence

per 10,000 SC women population

Sensi-tivity rank

Solapur 281953 29 7 5 2 8 1 52 1.84 1st

Nashik 208013 2 1 1 -- 4 19 27 1.3 2nd

Kolhapur 219292 4 6 -- 3 6 3 22 1 3rd

Total 709258 35 14 6 5 18 23 101 1.42

c) Accidental/Unnatural Deaths of SC Women To provide a more detailed overview of the lives of SC women, we also requested information on cases termed ‘Accidental/Unnatural Deaths’. In these cases, the violent death of the SC women may not be a crime; however, it may also be the case that no investigation has been conducted into the suspicious nature of the deaths. Table 5: Accidental Death Data District Total

No. of Cases

Sudden Stove Burst

Suicide Motor Vehicle

Health Problem

Other No Info.

Kolhapur 32 -- -- 32 -- -- -- Solapur 43 6 -- 3 2 4 28 Nashik 51 9 6 13 2 7 14 Total 126 15 6 48 4 11 42 Note: The figures for Kolhapur include 19 crimes of causing an accident by negligence.

The table above shows there were 126 recorded cases of accidental deaths of SC women during the research. The largest number of cases was due to accidents with motor vehicles. Sudden stove bursts caused 15 deaths and there were 6 cases of suicide. While all of the 126 deaths may have been accidents, how many of the cases could have been crimes where the violent deaths were wrongly registered as accidents? Were any of the cases of suicide actually abetment to suicide crimes? Were any of the cases of ‘sudden stove burst’ actually murder? A significant number of cases had ‘no information’ so it is not possible to evaluate whether these are crimes which should have been investigated or genuine accidents.

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ANALYSIS SC WOMEN’S ACCESS TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM When an alleged crime under the PoA Act has been committed, there is a specify process which must be followed to render justice. Such as:

• Filing of a First Information Report (FIR). • Arrest of the accused • Granting or denial of bail to the accused • Filing of the Charge Sheet or Summary within 30 days of the FIR in PoA cases • Court proceedings to determine conviction, acquittal or compromise

The same procedure is also followed for other criminal cases under other Acts; however, the Charge Sheet should be filed within 90 days rather than 30. Investigations under the PoA must be handled by the District’s Deputy Superintendent of Police. The PoA also requires the establishment of Special Courts and Special Government Prosecutors to ensure rapid justice under the Act. It is important that the procedures outlined above are followed, especially for cases of violence against SC women. Where delays occur, injuries may heal, evidence of sexual violence may be washed away, victims and witnesses may be pressurized into dropping the case or accepting a compromise. Where the case involves a death, the body may be cremated without the cause of death being established. This study looked at delays and other violations of the procedural rules at each stage of the legal system. The study found that there are delays at every stage of the justice system for cases of violence against SC women by both SCs and non-SCs. Excluding cases where information was not available, known delays occurred in between 48 and 69% of cases of violence by non-SCs and in between 50 and 64% of cases of violence by SCs. Delays of over 30 days in filing the Charge Sheet occurred more frequently than delays in other stages. Filing the Charge Sheet was delayed by more than 30 days in 37% of cases of violence by non-SCs and in 52% of cases of violence by SCs. Table 6A: Overview of Delays in 121 cases of violence against SC women by Non-SCs

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Solapur District: 27 registered cases

Kolhapur District: 49 registered cases

Nashik District: 45 registered cases

Total delays in 3 districts: 121 registered cases

Total delays over 30 days in 3 districts

Delays Over 30

days

Delays Over 30

days

Delays Over 30

days

Total delays

% Total %

Filing of FIR

18 1 45 2 20 3 83 69% 6 5%

Arrest of accused

14 1 15 2 29 4 58 48% 7 6%

Filing of Charge sheet

15 7 31 18 30 20 76 63% 45 37%

(Although there were 101 cases in total, 45 of those were either cases of causing accident by negligence or non-grievous cases where the information wasn’t available. The analysis was done for the remaining 56 cases.) Table 6b: Overview of Delays in 56 cases of violence against SCs women by SCs

Solapur District: 28 registered

cases

Kolhapur District: 1

registered cases

Nashik District: 27 registered

cases

Total delays in 3 districts: 56

registered cases

Total delays over 30 days in 3 districts

Delays Over

30 days

Delays Over

30 days

Delays Over

30 days

Total delays % Total %

Filing of FIR

28 7 1 1 7 5 36 64% 13 23%

Arrest of accused

19 4 1 0 8 1 28 50% 6 11%

Filing of Charge sheet

26 22 _ _ 7 7 33 59% 29 52%

Table 6c: Overview of the present status of cases registered between December 2004 and November 2009

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Status of Case Violence by non-SCs (total 121 registered cases)

Violence by SCs (total 56 registered cases)

Total number of registered cases (177 cases)

Percentage of 177 total cases

Conviction 2 0 2 1.1% Acquittal 14 1 15 8.5% Pending in court 30 21 51 28.8% Compromise 0 0 0 0% Summary A 0 1 1 0.6% Summary B 0 0 0 0% Summary C 0 0 0 0% Information not available

75 33 108 61%

1. Delays in filing the FIR It is critical that an FIR is filed as soon as a crime is discovered or suspected. Evidence may be destroyed by perpetrators or in rape cases the medical evidence can be washed away. The Police cannot refuse to register the complaint. If that happens, the concerned police officer can be booked under Rule 4 of PoA. If an attempt to register an FIR in person is denied, under the PoA, an FIR can be registered through the Postal Service. It is observed that, mostly the police just note down the complaint initially, and then make an investigation and only after that the FIR is filed. This causes delays and as a consequence it opens the opportunity for the accused to put pressure on the victim or her family through the village head or other people in society and either the FIR is never registered or the case is compromised at initial stage before it is even registered. a) Delays in filing FIR in cases of violence against SC women by Non-SCs

Table 7a: Delay in Filing FIR in the 34 non-grievous cases

Period of Delay (Days) District Total cases registered

Delay in how many cases

Within 1 day

1-3 4 - 6

7 -15

16-30

31days &above

N o delay

No info

Solapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Nashik 23 22 6 8 1 3 3 1 1 -- Kolhapur 11 4 -- 2 1 -- 1 -- 7 -- Total 34 26 6 10 2 3 4 1 8 -- Note:- In the table, the delays are counted from the incident date.

Note: Where the delay is ‘within one day’ the delay is counted in hours. It is sometimes difficult to know the reason behind the delay. It may be police reluctance to file the case or it may be that it took the victim some time to decide to report the case. The above table shows there was a delay in filing the FIR in 76% of non-grievous cases. There were delays in 96% of registered non-grievous cases in Kolhapur and in 36% of cases in Nashik District. Table 7b: Delay in filing FIR in 87 grievous cases

~ ~ 24

Period of Delay District Total cases registered


Within 1 day

1-3 4 - 6

7 -15

16-30

31days &above

N o delay

No info

Solapur 27 18 -- 12 2 1 2 1 7 2 Nashik 26 23 5 10 3 4 -- 1 3 --

Kolhapur 34 16 -- 8 3 2 -- 3 16 2 Total 87 57 5 30 8 7 2 5 26 4 There were delays in filing the FIR in 65.5% of all grievous cases. The highest percentage was in Kolhapur district where delays occurred in 88.5% of cases. In Solapur 66.7% of cases were delayed and in Nashik 47.1% of cases had delays. Taking all cases together, there were delays in filing the FIR in 83 out of 121 cases, i.e. 67%. Kolhapur district also has most delays with 45 out of a total of 49 cases (92% of cases) having delays. b) Delays in filing FIR in cases of violence against SC women by SCs

The table below shows the delay in filing of the FIR under IPC section 498A. The delay is counted from the incident date as given by the police. In a high number of cases, no information on the timescale of filing the FIR was given in reply to the RTI request. Table 7c: Delays in filing FIR in cases of cruelty to SC women by her in-laws and Dowry prohibition act.



Within 1 day

1-3 4 - 6

7 -15

16-30

31days &above

N o delay

No info

Solapur 10 10 -- 2 1 2 -- 5 -- -- Nashik 25 6 -- 1 -- -- -- 5 1 18 Kolhapur 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- Total 36 17 -- 3 1 2 -- 11 1 18 There were delays in filing the FIR in 100% of cases of cruelty to a married woman in Solapur and Kolhapur districts. In Nashik there were delays in 24% of cases and no information was available in 72%. In total, there were delays in 47% of cases and no information available in 50% of cases. In only 3% (or 1 case) is it known that there was no delay in filing the FIR. Table 7d: Delay in filing FIR in cases of serious physical hurt of SC women by SCs

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Within 1 day

1-3 4 - 6

7 -15

16-30

31days &above

N o delay

No info

Solapur 18 18 7 7 -- 2 -- 2 -- --

Nashik 2 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 Kolhapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Total 20 19 8 7 -- 2 -- 2 -- 1 * Non-grievous cases and cases of causing an accident by negligence (the 'other' category in Table 4b) are not included in the analysis. We focus only on the 20 cases of serious physical hurt.

The above table shows the delays in filing the FIR in cases of serious physical hurt of SC women by SCs. The delay is counted from after the incident registered with police station. It is important to note that we received no information at all from Kolhapur district. Again there were delays in filing the FIR in 100% of cases in Solapur district.

Combining the figures shows that there were delays in filing the FIR in 36 out of 56 cases (64%) of violence against SC women by SCs. In 19 cases (34%) there was no information and in only 1 case (2%) was there no delay in filing the FIR.

2. Delays in arresting the accused Many times it is observed that a delay in arresting the person accused of a crime has an impact on the victim’s access to justice. In many cases people from the community try to put pressure on the victim to not take the case further or to settle the case with payment of compensation money. They may also threaten victims with filing counter-cases. When ‘Mass Attack’ or multiple false counter-cases are filed against the original victim of an atrocity, their only option may be to make a compromise whereby they drop their case.

It is the nature of violent crimes against SC women that very often she knows the perpetrator and can immediately give his name to the police. A delay in arresting the accused causes delays further down the justice system such as delays in finalizing the charge sheet (which cannot be done before the accused is arrested) and delays in court proceedings. Sometimes the case is never brought before the court because the accused person has disappeared and “no action can be taken due to absence of perpetrator“, and sometimes the identity of the perpetrator remains unknown. Delays are counted from the date of the filing of the FIR.

7. Delay in arrest of the accused in cases of violence against SC women by Non-SCs

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Table 8a: Delay in arrest of the accused in non-grievous cases

Period of Delay

District

Total cases

registered


Within 1 day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30

31 and

above

No delay

No Info

Solapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Kolhapur 23 8 -- 3 2 1 1 1 -- 15 Nashik 11 9 -- 2 1 2 2 2 2 -- Total 34 17 -- 5 3 3 3 3 2 15

There were delays in arresting the accused in 50% of non-grievous cases, in 44% of cases there was no information available and there was no delay in only 6% of cases.

Table 8b: Delay in arrest of the accused in grievous cases

Period of Delay

District

Total cases

registered


Within 1 day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30

31 and

above

No delay

No Info

Solapur 27 14 -- 7 2 2 2 1 10 3 Kolhapur 26 7 2 3 -- 1 -- 1 4 15 Nashik 34 20 1 10 2 3 2 2 11 3 Total 87 41 3 20 4 6 4 4 25 21

The above table shows that where there are delays in the arrest of the accused in grievous cases, most are delayed for 1-3 days (8 cases in Nashik and 7 cases in Solapur). However, the number of delays could be higher because there are 21 cases for which we did not receive any information. Looking in more detail at the figure of 4 cases delayed by more than 31 days, we found that 3 of these cases were delayed by more than 100 days. In 2 cases from Nashik , the delay in arresting the accused was by three and a half months and by four and a half months, in one case in Solapur, the delay was for just over 3 months and in one Kolhapur case, the delay was just over 5 months. In total, there were delays in the arrest of the accused in 58 out of 121 cases (48%) of violence against SC women by non-SCs. In 36 cases (30%) there was no information available and in only 22% of cases was there no delay. 8. Delays in arrest of accused in cases of violence against SC women by SCs. Table 8c: Delay in arrest of the accused in cases of cruelty against women by her in-laws and Dowry prohibition act

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Period of Delay


registered


Within 1day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30 31 &

above No

delay No info

Solapur 10 9 -- 5 1 2 1 -- -- 1 Nashik 25 7 -- 3 1 2 -- 1 -- 18 Kolhapur 1 1 -- 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- Total 36 17 -- 9 2 4 1 1 -- 19

There were delays in every case where there was information available. In 47% of cases there were delays and in 53% of cases there was no information available.

Delay in arrest of the accused in cases of serious physical hurt (IPC sec. 306, 302, 354, 376, 307, 452, 363,366, etc.)

Table 8d Period of Delay


registered


Within 1day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30 31 &

above No

delay No info

Solapur 18 10 3 1 1 1 -- 4 3 5 Nashik 2 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 Kolhapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Total 20 11 4 1 1 1 4 3 6

Note: non-grievous cases or cases of causing an accident by negligence are not included in the table. There were delays recorded in the arrest of the accused in 55% of cases of serious physical hurt of SC women committed by SCs. No delay was recorded in only 15% of cases and in 30% of cases there was no information provided. In total out of 56 cases of violence against SC committed by SCs, there were delays in 28 cases (50%), no information was available in 25 cases (45%) and in only 3 cases (5%) was there no delay.

3. Granting of Bail When a case is registered under the PoA Act, in most of the cases, it is of t is always they are of a grievous nature (i.e. crimes under IPC sections 363, 366, 376 or 302, and PoA sections 3(1)11 or 12 for rape and 3(2)5, and are punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment) bail may not be granted to the accused. This means that courts should not grant bail to a non-SC arrested for the rape or murder of a SC woman.

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When a SC woman is raped or murdered by SCs, then the case is registered under the IPC, this should also be non-bailable. The Criminal Procedures Code states that in serious cases, bail should not be given.

When bail is granted, a SC women victim of rape may find that she has to see the accused every day in the village. The accused also has the possibility to use their dominant status or monetary influence to pressurize the victim or witnesses and force them to accept a compromise. As the table below highlights, bail has been granted in murder and rape cases. In many cases ‘anticipatory bail’ (Bail before Arrest) has been availed by the accused. a) Bail granted in cases of violence against SC women by Non-SCs Table 9a: Bail granted to accused in Rape and Murder cases

Total cases registered Bail granted Bail not granted No information District

Murders Rapes Murder Rapes Murder Rapes Murder Rapes Solapur 1 16 -- 15 -- -- 1 1 Nashik -- 11 -- 2 -- 1 -- 8 Kolhapur -- 8 -- 3 -- 3 -- 2 Total 1 35 20 -- 4 1 11

The above table shows that Bail is granted to the accused in 15 out of 16 rape cases (94%) in Solapur, followed by 3 rape cases out of 8 (38%) in Nashik District and 2 cases out of 11 (18%) in Kolhapur district. Overall, bail was granted in 57% of rape cases, there is no information regarding 31% of cases and in mere 11 rape cases, was bail not granted in accordance with the regulations. There is no information on the one murder case. b) Bail granted in cases of violence against SC women by SCs Table 9b: Bail granted to accused in Rape and Murder cases

Total cases registered Bail granted Bail not granted No information District

Murders Rapes Murder Rapes Murder Rapes Murder Rapes Solapur 2 6 -- 3 -- -- 2 3 Nashik 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- Kolhapur --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Total 3 6 -- 3 1 -- 2 3

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The above table shows instances of bail granted and not granted to the accused in cases of murder and rape of SC women perpetrated by SCs. Bail was granted in 50% of the rape cases and there is no information about the other 50%. Out of the 3 murder cases bail was not granted in one case (33%) and there is no information about the other cases (66%).

4. Filing of the Charge Sheet As per the PoA rules in atrocity cases, the Charge Sheet is to be filed within 30 days (from FIR date) with Superintendent of Police. The Charge sheet is the complete documented file containing the Panchnama i.e the incident location inspection report, witness statements, senior officer statement, a report on any weapons seized if weapons were used in the crime, a medical report, an investigation report, update or the status of the case and a copy of the FIR. A delay in filing the Charge sheet causes delays in the court procedure and justice to the victim. In many cases, the police never involve the victim in the investigation or inform the victim in regards to the filing of the Charge sheet. This means that the victim either does not understand the process or remains unaware of the progress of the case. An example of this showed up during the follow up research into the nine case studies. In the case of a rape in Solapur district, it emerged that the victim and her family were unaware that their case was pending with the court for a hearing. In their view they had never given the name of the perpetrator to the authorities and did not want to pursue the case out of fear that it would disturb the girl’s new married life. In another case the victim had made an out of court settlement and did not wish to take up the case; however the case was pending in the court. a) Delays in Filing the Charge Sheet in cases of violence against SC women by Non-

SCs In total, the filing of the Charge Sheet was delayed in 62% of non-grievous cases, there was no delay in 26% of cases and no information was available for 12% of cases. Out of the 62% of delayed cases, 71% (or 15 out of 21 cases) were delayed more than 31 days.

Table 10a: Delay in filing charge sheet and summary filed in non-grievous cases Period of Delay


registered


Within 1day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30 31 &

above No

delay No info

Solapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Nashik 23 13 -- - -- 1 3 9 7 3 Kolhapur 11 8 -- -- -- 1 1 6 2 1 Total 34 21 -- -- -- 2 4 15 9 4

~ ~ 30

b) Delay in filing charge sheet and summary filed in Grievous cases

In grievous cases, there was a delay in filing the Charge Sheet in 63% of cases, there was no delay in 22% of cases and no information was available in 15% of cases. Out of the 63% of cases where there was a delay, in 55% of cases (30 out of 55 cases). The filing of the Charge Sheet was delayed for more than 31 days. Out of the 30 grievous cases delayed for more than 31 days, 4 cases were delayed for more than 90 days and 5 cases were delayed for more than 120 days. Table 10b: Delay in filing charge sheet and summary filed in Grievous cases

Period of Delay


registered


Within 1day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30 31 &

above No

delay No info

Solapur 27 15 -- 2 1 3 2 7 8 4 Nashik 26 18 -- -- -- 1 8 9 7 1 Kolhapur 34 22 -- 1 -- 6 1 14 4 8 Total 87 55 -- 3 1 10 11 30 19 13

c) Delays in filing the Charge sheet in cases of violence against SC women by SCs Table 10c: Delay in filing charge sheet and summary filed in cases of cruelty on women by her in-laws and Dowry Prohibition Act

Period of Delay


registered


Within 1day 1-3 4-6 7-15 16-30 31 &

above No

delay No info

Solapur 10 10 -- -- 1 1 1 7 -- -- Nashik 25 7 -- -- -- -- -- 7 -- 18 Kolhapur 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 Total 36 17 -- -- 1 1 1 14 -- 19

The above table shows that in none of the cases was the Charge Sheet filed on time. There was a delay in filling the Charge sheet in 47% of all cases of cruelty to SC women by her in-laws and Dowry prohibition Act (including in 100% of cases in Solapur district). There was no information available in 53% of cases. d) Delay in filing charge sheet and summary filed in cases of serious physical hurt of

SC women by SCs

~ ~ 31

Table 10d

Period of Delay* Summary**



Within 1day

1-3 days

4-6

*The Charge Sheet should be filed within 90 days of the FIR in non-PoA cases

** Summary A is filed when the police cannot identify the perpetrator and the case cannot be taken forward to court. Summary B is filed when the police judge the complaint to be false. Summary C is filed when the police consider there is not enough evidence to determine whether the complaint is true or false. The above table shows again that the charge sheet was not filed on time in any of the cases of serious physical hurt of SC women by SCs. There were delays in 80% of cases and no information available in 20% of cases. In Solapur district 89% of cases were delayed and of those 94% (or 15 out of 16 cases) were delayed by more than 31days.

5. Convictions Section 14 of the PoA Act provides for the establishment of a Special Court in order to provide a speedy trial for PoA offences. However, the Act does not define ‘speedy trial’ or specify a time period by which the case should be heard. It is notable that the amount of data received through the RTI application for the numbers of convictions, acquittals and pending cases was limited. Out of 87 grievous cases, information was missing in 46 cases (53%). Out of 36 cases registered under 498A, information was missing in 29 cases (81%). a) Status of the cases of violence against SC women by Non-SCs Table 11a: Status of the non-grievous cases in the Sessions courts in the three districts

~ ~

Status Total number of cases

Convicted Acquitted Pending Information not available

Time Frame

S K N S K N S K N S K N S K N 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov2005

-- 1 1 -- - - -- - - - - - -- 1 1

1st Dec 2005 to 30th Nov2006

-- 6 6 - - - -- 1 -- -- 1- 1 - 4 5

32

days 7-15 days

16-30 days

Over 31

days

No delay

No info A B C

Solapur 18 4 -- -- -- -- 2 2 9 4 1 Nashik 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 Kolhapur -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Total 20 4 -- -- -- -- 2 2 9 6 1


-- 7 2 - - - -- - - -- -- - - 7 2


-- 4 2 - - - - - - -- 1 1 - 3 1


-- 5 -- - - - - - -- 1 - - 4 -

Total 0 23 11 - - - -- 1 - -- 3 2 -- 19 9 None of the 34 cases of non-grievous crimes against SC women by non-SCs registered between 2004 and 2009 resulted in the conviction of the perpetrator. In 82% of cases there was no information on the status of the case available. In 6% of the cases there was an acquittal and the case is pending with the courts in 12% of cases. b) Status of the grievous cases in the Sessions courts in the three districts Table 11b:

Status Time Frame Total no of cases

Convicted Acquitted Pending Information not available

Years S K N S K N S K N S K N S K N 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov2005 5 6 4 1 - - 2 1 - 2 - - -

- 5 4

1st Dec 2005 to 30th Nov2006 8 6 7 -

- 1 -- 5 - 1 3 - 1 -- 5 5

1st Dec 2006 to 30th Nov2007 4 7 7 -

- - -- 1 - 1 3 1 1 -- 6 5

1st Dec 2007 to 30th Nov2008 3 5 10 -

- - -- -- - -- 3 2 1 -- 3 9

1st Dec 2008 to 30th Nov2009 4 1 6 -

- -- -- -- -- -- 4 - 4 -

- 1 2

No Incident date mentioned 3 1 -- -

- -- -- 2 -- -- -- -

- -- 1 1 --

Total 27 26 34 1 1 -- 10 1 2 15 3 7 1 21 25 The above table shows the status of the 87 grievous cases in the Sessions courts in the three districts between 1st December 2004 and 30th November 2009. In only 2 cases (4.6%) has there been a conviction. In 13 cases (14.9%) there was an acquittal, 25 cases (28.7%) are pending with the courts and in 47 cases (51.7%) the information is not available.

~ ~ 33

In only 15 out of 87 grievous cases (17.2%) it is know that there has been a decision on the case. While it may be understandable that some cases from 2009 have not yet come to court, it would be reasonable to expect that the PoA provision for a speedy trial

would mean that cases registered earlier in the study period were concluded. However, this has not occurred. There were 57 cases registered between December 2004 and November 2007 and 40 of those cases (70%) have yet to be decided (between 3 and 6 years after the crime occurred). These 40 cases represent 46% of all 87 grievous cases. No cases from after December 2007 have had a court make a decision on them yet. There are 47 cases (51.7%) where the police have no record of the status of the case. c) Status of the cases of Violence against SC women by SCs

The information received on the status of cases of violence against SC women by SCs was incomplete. This means that it is not possible to compile conviction and acquittal rates for the 101 cases included in the study.

The tables below show the status of cases for which we received information.

Table 11c: Status of cases of cruelty on women by her in-laws and Dowry prohibition act in the Sessions courts in the three districts

Status Total Case Registered Convicted Acquitted Pending Information

not available Time Frame

S K N S K N S K N S K N S K N 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov2005 6 -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 6 -- -- -- -- 2

1st Dec 2005 to 30th Nov2006 2 -- 5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 -- 5

1st Dec 2006 to 30th Nov2007 -- -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2

1st Dec 2007 to 30th Nov2008 -- -- 7 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7

1st Dec 2008 to 30th Nov2009 2 1 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 1 1 9

Total 10 1 25 -- -- -- -- -- -- 7 -- -- 3 1 25 Out of 36 cases of cruelty to married women by her in-laws, it appears that no cases have been convicted. 7 cases (19.4%) are pending with the courts and information is unavailable in 29 cases (80.5%). Of the 7 pending cases, 6 have been pending since 2005. Kolhapur Police have registered only 1 case under IPC section 498A and that case has also been pending since 2008. On further investigation of that case, we found that the police should have reported this case under the PoA Act because the victim belongs to a Scheduled Caste and the accused (perpetrator) belongs to an ‘Other Backward Caste (OBC)’ caste, but it was wrongly registered under section 498A of the IPC only.

~ ~ 34

Nashik police have registered 25 cases but did not provide us with information on the status of any of the cases. d) Status of cases of serious physical hurt in the Sessions courts in the three districts Table 11d:

Status Time Frame Total Case Registered Convicted Acquitted Pending Summary Info not

available S K N S K N S K N S K N S K N S K N 1st Dec 2004 to 30th Nov 2005 4 -- _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 _ _ - - 1 _ _ 1st Dec 2005 to 30th Nov 2006 2 -- -- _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ - - 1* _ _ 1st Dec 2006 to 30th Nov 2007 3 -- 1 _ _ _ 1 _ -

- 2 _ 1 - - -- _ --

1st Dec 2007 to 30th Nov 2008 2 -- _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 _ _ - - -- _ _ 1st Dec 2008 to 30th Nov 2009 7 -- 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ 5 _ -- 1** - - 1 _ 1 Total

18 - 2 -- _ - 1 _ -- 13 _ 1 1 - - 3 _ 1

*We received no information on the charge- sheet of this case so do not know the status or whether it proceeded or was dropped. **The accused in this case could not be identified so the police dropped the case. Again, we received incomplete data from the RTI application. Of the 20 cases, there was no conviction. 70% of cases were still pending with the courts, 25% had no information on the status of the case and 5% (1 case) had been acquitted. Of the 10 cases registered between December 2004 and November 2007, only 1 case is known to have been concluded (and acquitted) despite it now being between 3 and 6 years since the date of the crime. Out of the total of 56 cases of violence against SC women by SCs for which information was received from the RTI application, only 1 case (1.8%) was known to be concluded; it ended in acquittal of the accused. None resulted in a conviction. 37.5% remain pending with the courts and 60.7% had no information available on the status.

~ ~ 35

Taking all of the cases of violence against SC women together, it is clear that SC women are not obtaining justice. Out of 177 cases of violence perpetrated by both SCs and non-SCs registered with the police between December 2004 and November 2009, only 2 cases resulted in a conviction of the perpetrator, a dismal conviction rate of only 1.1%. In a massive 61% of cases police were unable or failed to provide information on the outcome or status of the case.

OBSERVATION OF SOME CASES

While studying the cases of victims and their fight for justice, we came across some cases which are narrated in brief as observations: • In one case the accused was tried for multiple crimes against the victim. Under the

first charge of outraging of modesty and assault, he was convicted; however, the second charge of murder of the victim, resulted in the same perpetrator being acquitted because of no appropriate proof.

• There is a very long delay in the legal process. Many cases are pending in the court

since before 2008. In rape cases the female victims are now married and the parents have made out of court settlements with the perpetrator in order to avoid disruption of their daughters’ newly married life. The victims and parents therefore consider the case closed and they are not aware that the case is still pending consideration by the court.

• In a murder case the parents of the victim do not want to proceed with the case

because that will not bring their daughter back. • In one case, an FIR was filed with the police station by a victim complaining about

domestic violence. The FIR specified her in-laws’ address; however, she was no longer living with them. This meant the police had no means of contacting her and neither did our researchers. As per the data received, the case is pending in the court but the victim may not know this.

• Under the PoA, the investigation is to be done by an officer of the level of SDPO.

However, in our experience when we checked the FIR and spoke with the victims, the investigations were conducted by lower level officers and reported to their superior. While interviewing the victims (or their family members in the case of murder) we questioned them about the police inspector in charge of their cases and they answered it was a PI or Constable. Most of the FIR possess the signature of a Head Constable, not the SDPO.

~ ~ 36

• In general, SC women hesitate to approach the police station after a violence or atrocity case. Getting the case registered is a tough task and many times the process is also not followed correctly. The police administration does not document about the SC women’s complaints of atrocity or family violence appropriately. During the research, it was observed that, in some cases, even the victim’s caste was not mentioned nor was the victim’s parental address was mentioned, which caused problems in being able to contact her. The non- documentation of this process as specified by law has led to pending of cases in the court for long time, thus resulting in delay in justice, which is equivalent to denial of justice.

CONCLUSION

The research study on “Barriers to Justice” and Scheduled Caste Women the violations of human rights affecting SC women. It is clear from the findings that:

• The justice system has failed to deliver and provide timely justice to the victim SC

women.

• It could be evident from the study that SC women are facing similar problems in

accessing justice in the other districts of Maharashtra.

• Even where SC women are able to register their cases with police, which is an

important evidence of confidence, there are delays and problems at every step of the

investigative and legal process.

• The conviction rate in the cases of caste based violence registered with PoA Act, is

very poor in Maharashtra. Only 9.6% of cases between 2004 and 2009 had been

concluded and a decision was made shows the sorry state of affairs of the system

that has failed to provide justice or a resolution for the victim.

• The inability of the police to provide information on all the cases underlines that the

system is in disarray. With an overall conviction rate for cases, between 2004 and

2009, of only 1.1%, where is the incentive for SC women to pursue justice through

the legal system? And where is the deterrent to perpetrators of violence?

~ ~ 37

RECOMMENDATIONS

The government should review the implementation of the SC/ST POA Act and

take measures for the strengthening of the Act, for its effective implementation

and for future monitoring of its implementation

District level support mechanisms should be established in every district with

the involvement of the important agencies - the police, medical department,

revenue and administration and the judiciary along with SC rights NGOs to

facilitate the aggrieved SC women in accessing the criminal justice system

Mandate the State and National Commission for SC, ST and Women with

powers, funds and infrastructure to enquire in to the complaints of atrocities

against SC women and give directions. Recommendations by these state and

national commissions on the implementation of the Acts and policies for the

SCs to be enforced.

The government should ensure that the law enforcement agencies and the

judiciary who form the criminal justice system are sensitized to address the

issue of caste and gender based discrimination against SC women in

accordance with national and international human rights laws. The officials

who neglect their duty to protect the rights of the SC women should be

punished with enhanced criminal measures.

The government should set up special courts, exclusive public prosecutors and

exclusive investigators for the speedy trial of atrocities against SCs.

~ ~ 38

REFERENCES

1. Unheard Voices: Dalit Women, An Alternative Report, TNWF, Jan 2007

2. Dalit Women Speak Out. Violence against Dalit Women in India, NCDHR, March 2006.

3. Background information on Dalit women in India by Ruth Manorama

4. Violation of Human Rights of Dalit Women: Issues, Factors and Concerns. Ms. Prabha Tirmare, CSW, Nirmala Niketan Institute, Mumbai

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“barriers to justices” and scheduled caste...

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