2 MANUSHI

Pratima’s story is not an ordinary case of family abuse. It tells us a lot about the nature of the Indian state and howit has come to be dominated by criminal elements at all levels. The corrupt and the venal amongst our powerwielders regularly use their leverage with the state machinery to benefit their kith and kin and crush with bruteforce any attempt to challenge their power. However, in Pratima’s case, her father let loose a reign of terror againsther and her marital family with the active support of every possible arm of the state machinery.

In her years long battle, Pratima knocked on every possible door. Even at the risk of her life, she wrote petitionsto senior-most police officers of Uttar Pradesh, to the Chief Minister as well as to the Home Secretary. She alsoapproached the State Women’s Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Women’sCommission. Each of these institutions failed to come to her rescue. But she never gave up battling.

It was through Zee TV, whose reporter Sanjay Chandra covered her case, that she came into contact withMadhu Kishwar in September 2006. Since then MANUSHI has taken up her case with full force.

MANUSHI’s interventions have brought about significant new developments that may give a positive ending to ahorror story. However, it is too early to forecast the outcome of the case. That is why we are providing our readersa detailed account of Pratima’s life so that you may join us in mobilizing support for her.

We find it very impressive that Pratima does not overstate or exaggerate her predicament. Even when she isclose to a point of break down, she speaks in a measured way and retains her dignity. That is one reason whyhelping her in her fight for justice has been a very inspiring experience. Despite having gone through hell, she hasnot allowed her own humanity to be damaged.

It has been a matter of great anguish for her that all these years, she is the one who was expected to hide her facefrom society and feel ashamed, while her father went around brazenly without any sense of shame or remorse. Evennewspapers and TV channels, which covered her story, had to hide her identity by changing her name and coveringher face. It is an act of great courage on her part that she has chosen to speak to MANUSHI in her own name andallowed us to use her unveiled pictures.

The following account is based on tape-recorded as well as several oral interviews with Pratima and severalhours of conversation with her husband, along with a review of their case papers.

Pratima Singh: A Woman of Rare CourageStory of a Daughter’s Battle against a Rapist and Murderous Father

A MANUSHI Report

Pratima’s taped conversations in Hindi were transcribed meticulously by Rakesh. The text of the tape as well as severaloral conversations were translated by Madhu Kishwar and condensed for use in MANUSHI by Aliya. Misha, Mariel,Prabha and Lubna also got deeply involved in her case and contributed in presenting this story in MANUSHI. Today, sheis like an adopted daughter of MANUSHI.

No.156 (September-October 2006) 3

Twenty-five-year-old PratimaSingh is the daughter of VirendraKumar Dohare who is currentlyposted as the Sub DivisionalMagistrate (SDM) in Mahoba Districtof Uttar Pradesh. She says, “Mychildhood was very different from thatof ordinary children because I did notreceive any parental love. My fathercomes from a very poor ScheduleCaste (Chamar) family. He was marriedoff while still in his teens to my motherwho is from a still poorer family.Because of her poor background,illiteracy and lack of good looks, henever really accepted her. As hecarried on with his studies and thengot himself a government job, hisdisdain for my mother kept increasing.He had affairs with several women andwanted to marry someone else.Therefore, he used all kinds of tacticsagainst my mother, includingallegations of sexual infidelity, to getrid of her. For example he disownedme while I was still in my mother’swomb, alleging that this pregnancywas due to my mother’s affair with hisown father.

“My paternal grandfather was aClass IV employee with the IndianRailways who did manual work on therailway line as a gangman. He waspoor and had received no educationat all. My father therefore had verylittle respect for his own father andspared no opportunity to insult andhumiliate him. His allegation that hisown father had fathered me wasperhaps due to this contempt.

“Though I was the first daughterin three generations in my father’sfamily, he used my birth to abandonmy mother. The main reason for myfather’s aversion to having a daughterwas because he thought that havinga daughter would make himsubordinate to whichever family shemarried into. He was very proud ofthe fact that for three generations theirfamily has never had to bow before

any other family. Consequently, shehad to spend several years in her ownparental home in Satahari village. Mymaternal grandfather was extremelypoor and my mother spent those yearsin grinding poverty. She had only onesari, a blouse and a petticoat—noteven spare garments to change intowhen she bathed. I grew up on drybajra rotis.

“Even though my mother did notmaltreat me, she gave far moreimportance to my brothers since herposition was elevated in the familybecause of them. While my motherwas living in her parental village, mygrandfather, uncles, and others madeseveral attempts to take back my elderbrother because they wanted a sonof the family with them. My motherfirmly refused to let go of her son andinsisted that either all three of us go

back or none. Finally, due to thecollective pressure of her communityelders, including one of his uncles wholater became my father-in-law, myfather was persuaded to take back mymother. But he never forgave myfather-in-law for having exercised hisinfluence to make him accept his wifenor, for that matter, his own father forhaving taken my mother’s side.

“My father was one of fivebrothers and since there was agovernment school in the village, hemanaged to get an education. In 1989,he appeared for the exam for Class IIIofficers and was selected as a NaibTehsildar. In no time, he haddeveloped mafia contacts andconsiderable political influence sothat by 1993, within four years of hisjoining the service, he was promotedto the office of Tehsildar. By 1997, hewas promoted to Class II service andbecame a Sub Divisional Magistrate.

“Even though he had not qualifiedfor a Provincial Civil Service exam(PCS), he was promoted to this highercadre due to the political influence hehad garnered. Once he became a SubDivisional Magistrate, his arrogancebecame even more insufferable andhis criminal tendencies manifestedthemselves in more and more grossforms.

Even at that age, I could see thatdue to his corrupt ways, he wasbeginning to make a lot of extraincome and buy big chunks ofproperty around our own village andin Lucknow and Kanpur. He also paidfor the upkeep of my mother’sbrother’s family and bought a lot ofprime agricultural land in the namesof members of my mother’s family. Icould also see that he used his powerto corner women and have extramaritalrelationships. He would even bringprostitutes home and I would seethem sleeping in my mother’s bed. Mymother didn’t dare protest openlyagainst his debaucheries because shewas afraid of being thrown out of thehouse again.”

SDM Virendra Pratap Dohare

“Once Dohare became aSub Divisional

Magistrate, his arrogancebecame even moreinsufferable and hiscriminal tendencies

manifested themselves inmore and more grossforms. He would even

bring prostitutes home andI would see them sleeping

in my mother’s bed.”

4 MANUSHI

Growing up with such a father, itis not surprising that there was nonormal father-daughter affectionbetween Pratima and Dohare. From anearly age, Pratima resented her father’sdebauched ways but what humiliatedher more was her father’s lecherousbehaviour towards her female friends.Whenever any of her school orcollege-going friends came to thehouse, he would make obscenepasses at them.

It was one such incident onOctober 19, 2001 that led to a majorexplosion in her life and set her on adangerous, confrontational path withher father. At the time, Pratima wasstudying in BSc 1st Year in Kanpur.One of her college friends had cometo visit her. They were bothdiscussing some classroom relatedproblems when her father walked inand, as was his habit, passed somelewd comments at Pratima’s friend. Hewas at that time heavily drunk and abit agitated.

Pratima protested against herfather’s behaviour saying, “Don’t youfeel ashamed misbehaving with yourown daughter’s friend who you oughtto treat like a daughter? If you can dothis to her, I feel you can misbehavelike this with anyone, including yourown daughter.”

Seeing this father-daughterconfrontation on account of her,Pratima’s friend left the house in tears.But her father got into such a deadlyrage that it seemed blood was pouringfrom his eyes. He hit her repeatedly,dragged her by her hair, and threw heron his bed. When she tried to resistand get up from the bed, he swoopeddown on her, untied her salwar,paralysing her with brute force, andraped her violently. Her mother was awitness to this scene.

Pratima was so devastated by thisexperience that for nearly 10 days shedid not even come out of her room.During this period, instead ofprotecting her, all her mother did wasto come into her room and advise her,

the courage to explain herpredicament, her friend inferred whathad happened from the injuries on herface and body. Pratima also confidedin her friend’s mother who firstadvised her to leave home and seekrefuge in some ashram (shelter home).But after making the suggestion, herfriend’s mother herself told her thatsuch tales of exploitation arecommonplace in women’s ashrams aswell. While presently, Pratima had onlyone man exploiting her; in an ashramthere might be many others.

Pratima didn’t know where else togo since she was very young andlacked the education to get a job. Shesays that although she did considersuicide, she decided against itbecause she thought people wouldconsider her “characterless”. Instead,she found another way to handle herpredicament. She started making anote of all that she was beingsubjected to in her diary. She alsowrote letters to several of her moreinfluential relatives along with pagesfrom her dairy, telling them about herplight. The relatives were well awareof Dohare’s corruption and that hecommanded immense muscle power,and so Pratima got no real help fromthem.

A friend advised her to send aletter of complaint to some seniorofficers in the Uttar Pradeshgovernment. Pratima wrote a petitionto the Director General of Police (DGP)and to the Home Secretary inLucknow and sent her friend to postit for her. This was a very bold anddaring step for a woman who was stillliving under her father’s roof and hadno alternative means of support. Shesays that until then she had a lot offaith in the law. But what followed lefther totally shattered.

The DGP apparently assigned thejob of investigating her complaint toa local junior officer who then handedthe case to her own father to write-upthe report. On 29 January 2002, Dohare

“Please ensure that you take care ofthe family’s honour and protect theinterests of your brothers.”

Soon after this incident, Doharewas posted at the districtheadquarters while his familycontinued to stay in Kanpur. However,he would still come home at frequentintervals. On these visits, Dohareraped Pratima repeatedly especiallysince he could that see she remaineddefiant, unlike her mother.

Living under such terror, Pratimafound it hard to continue with hereducation and would miss college forseveral days. One day her friend cameover to meet her and asked:, “Whyaren’t you attending classes?” Shehad sensed that Pratima was introuble. Although Pratima didn’t have

He hit herrepeatedly,dragged herby her hair,

and threw heron his bed. When she triedto resist and get up from

the bed, he swooped downon her, untied her salwar,paralysing her with brute

force, and raped herviolently. Her mother was

a witness to this scene.

He thrashedher with a

steel rod, puta gun to herchest, and

told her, “You think aDGP can protect you

against me? I hold manyDGPs in my fist and can

make them do mybidding.

No.156 (September-October 2006) 5

came to his Kanpur house withPratima’s complaint against himself.He thrashed her with a steel rod, put agun to her chest and told her, “Youthink a DGP can protect you againstme? I hold many DGPs in my fist andcan make them do my bidding. Youmay try to take recourse to kanoon(laws) but kanoona (brute force andextra-legal methods) are all on myside.” He then forced her to write astatement in a slightly changedhandwriting saying that he had nevermaltreated her and that the complaintwas a ploy on the part of some enemiesof the family. Thus she was forced toexonerate her own father at the pointof a gun.

But merely getting his daughterto retract her statement did not satisfyDohare. She had to be crushed for thisact of defiance. Pratima says, the verynext week, around 4 February 2002,Dohare got his servant and hisbrother-in-law, Dinesh, whodepended on Dohare’s financial help,to mix poison in her food. That day,Pratima was alone in the housepreparing for her exam. She had beenforbidden to leave the house unlessshe was escorted by the householdservant and her father’s driver. Sheconsumed the poisoned food justbefore going to bed. In a few hours,she began to vomit and was severelysick. The servant just picked her upand took her to an inner room so thatneighbours and casual visitors willnot notice that there was somethingwrong going on in the house.Pratima’s uncle then stood guard tomake sure she could not call a doctor.Miraculously, Pratima managed to

expel enough poison through hervomiting so that she survived withoutmedical attention.

We asked her why, like her mother,she did not quietly accept her father’sways in exchange for a life of comfortand luxury. She says, “Like most otherpeople, I too like to live comfortably,but I have an inner rage and a senseof revulsion against him because Iknow he’s an evil man. I find ithumiliating to enjoy the facilities andcomforts he has to offer because hehas secured this lifestyle throughvery corrupt and evil means, and inthe process, he has altogether lost hisown humanity.”

What about Pratima’s brothers, didthey know what was happening toher? Since her elder brother wasstudying away from home in a hostel,she got the opportunity to share herpredicament with him only a monthafter the first rape. His first responsewas one of total disbelief. Pratimasays that even when her motherwould complain to her son about herhusband’s womanizing anddebauched ways, her brother wouldrespond by saying, “All this is normalwhen a man reaches a certain status.If we make too much fuss about it, it

will ruin our family’s reputation.”When he got to know about Pratima’scomplaint to the DGP, which led to aninvestigation, his reaction was, “Howdare she rebel like this and write lettersagainst her own father to outsiders.What does she think of herself? Sheshould be killed.” So she got neithersympathy nor support from her elderbrother, while the younger one wastoo small at that time to be of muchhelp.

Since Dohare was easily able todeflect Pratima’s official complaint, he

But merely getting hisdaughter to retract her

statement did not satisfyDohare. She had to becrushed for this act of

defiance.

WhenPratima’s

elder brothergot to knowabout her

complaint to the DGP,which led to an

investigation, his reactionwas, “How dare she rebellike this and write lettersagainst her own father tooutsiders. What does she

think of herself? Sheshould be killed.”

Pratima with her husband Satya Prakash at MANUSHI office

6 MANUSHI

became further emboldened inassaulting her. So, on 13 February2002, he unexpectedly came homemidweek on the pretext of picking upvoting machines for his constituency.As soon as Pratima saw him, shewalked out of her room to theverandah, fearing yet another assault.Her calculation was that if she stayedout in full public view, she might beable to protect herself. But Dohareforced Pratima’s mother to fetch herin. And once again, she was rapedwhile her mother was in the house.

Despite increasing violence andthreats, Pratima could not besubdued. She wrote many more lettersto various high officials, including theHome Secretary and the Chief Ministerof the State describing herpredicament but to no avail.

She took a couple of her friendsinto confidence who supported herdecision to leave the house. Since shehad no where to go and no money toorganize a safe shelter for herself, shewent to Varanasi, and sought refugewith a young relative named SatyaPrakash who was at that time studyingfor a medical (BMS) degree whilestaying in a hostel. She chose him forseeking help because he waseducated and of good repute.Morever, his father had helped hermother get back into her matrimonialhome and also expressed a measureof disapproval of Dohare’s actsagainst Pratima.

Satya Prakash says he was himselfunwilling to get involved in thismatter because he knew that Pratima’sfather would turn vindictive. However,when Satya Prakash’s close circle offriends heard Pratima’s story, theywere very moved and pleaded withSatya Prakash to come to her rescue.After hours and hours of his friendspleading and arguing on Pratima’sbehalf, Satya Prakash consented tomarry her because that alone gave himthe right to offer her shelter withoutfalling foul of the law. Had he givenher shelter without marriage, Dohare

On 23 or 24 February 2002, Doharewent with some local goons in hisofficial car to Satya Prakash’s villageand forcibly abducted SatyaPrakash’s father Sita Ram, andbrought him to his official residencein Kanpur. At gunpoint, Doharedemanded the expeditious return ofhis daughter. Dohare was convincedthat Sita Ram had instigated SatyaPrakash to “elope” with his daughter.Dohare also phoned Satya Prakash’selder brother, Babu Ram Pratap, whowas an advocate practicing in theAllahabad High Court, and demandedthat he immediately come to his housein Kanpur, or else he would shootSatya Prakash. As soon as Babu Ramreached Kanpur, Dohare forced himand his father into a vehicle andcarried them to Satya Prakash’s hostelin the medical college in Varanasi.Dohare was accompanied by twocarloads of goons. There, Dohare andhis goons ransacked Satya Prakash’sroom and tried to burn all his booksand papers. Luckily, his roommate ranand called the hostel warden whostood up to Dohare and ordered himand his goons to leave the hostelpremises at once. Satya Prakash’sfriends somehow managed to rescueBabu Ram and his father bysmuggling them out of the hostelthrough the back gate.

After this incident, Babu Ram andhis father Sita Ram were too terrifiedto stay in their village home.Therefore, Babu Ram took shelter inhis wife’s parental home. Sita Ram andhis younger son Ramasre also wentinto hiding and moved from onerelative’s house to another. The onlyperson left in their village home wasPratima’s old mother-in-law who hadto face Dohare’s goons all alone onseveral occasions. They would comelooking for the male members of thefamily, break things, vandalise thewhole house and shower threats andabuses on the old woman.

Following the February 2002kidnapping and Dohare’s subsequent

Pratima’s mother-in-law, Bhagwati

could have implicated him in chargesof abduction and rape of his daughter.

Satya Prakash did not even get theopportunity to consult with his fatheror elder brother before the marriage.In any case, he knew they would neversupport his decision. On 21 February2002, they registered their marriage inUttar Kashi. They dared not getmarried in UP, their home state,because they feared Pratima’s fatherwould try to stop it. Soon after themarriage ceremony, Pratima made themistake of telephoning her father toinform him of her marriage to SatyaPrakash and told him that she wantedto break all ties with him. After that,Pratima and Satya Prakash went intohiding at the house of one of SatyaPrakash’s friends in Uttar Kashi.Dohare was so outraged at the newsthat he lost no time in retaliating.

Despiteincreasing

violence andthreats,

Pratima couldnot be subdued. She wrote

many more letters tovarious high officials andpower weilders, includingthe Home Secretary andthe Chief Minister of UP

describing herpredicament but to no

avail.

No.156 (September-October 2006) 7

terrorising acts against SatyaPrakash’s family, Babu Ram Pratapendeavored to file complaints againstDohare. Even though Babu Ram wasa High Court advocate, he was unableto get even an FIR registered againstDohare and his goons. Satya Prakashsays, “The Circle Officer of the policestation of the area, Rajesh Kumar,happened to be a buddy fromDohare’s college days and belongedto the same SC community. He madeno secret of the fact that he wasacting at Dohare’s behest. WhenSatya Prakash’s family tried to registercomplaints and seek protection forthemselves, policemen would tellthem, ‘He’s only threatening you, hehasn’t yet killed you, so what are youmaking this big fuss about? After all,your brother has run away with hisdaughter. Do you expect him to takethis humiliation lying down?” SatyaPrakash adds, “On March 25, 2002,Dohare fired a shot at my brother,saying, ‘you know where the girl isbut you are hiding it from us. If youdon’t help me reach her soon, I’ll killyou all.’

In desperation, Babu Ram sentregistered letter to the Home Secretaryof Uttar Pradesh, the Chairman BarCouncil of Allahabad High Court, andseveral other high officialscomplaining that his life was indanger. But no one took any note.”

Pratima says, “My father remainedconvinced that Babu Ram Pratap wasgiving me strength to revolt no matterhow much I tried to explain to him thatBabu Ram did not approve of SatyaPrakash’s marriage with me.Therefore, my father was determinedto knock Babu Ram out from our lives.”

At this point, in desperation,Pratima sought the help of anothersupposedly influential relative wholives in Jaipur, to prevail upon herfather to leave her alone. She told himthat she was willing to come and faceher father provided he stoppedhounding her husband and in-laws.This relative assured her that he would

help her arrive at a compromise andasked her to come to Jaipur for thepurpose.

On 27 April 2002, Pratima, herhusband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law arrived at the house of Dohare’scousin in Jaipur. However, contraryto the assurances made to Pratima, thisman had entered into a different kindof pact with Dohare. Pratima’shusband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law were taken and locked up in aseparate room. Dohare came in hisofficial vehicle with his brother andsevral armed men and abductedPratima, dragging her by force anddumping her into the car. As soon asDohare left with Pratima on 28 April2002, the Jaipur relative releasedSatya Prakash, Sita Ram, and BabuRam. As he threw them out of thehouse, he told them, “If you dare comeanywhere near that girl again, we willdynamite your house so that as highas it stands today, there will be as deepa crater in its place.”

After Pratima was kidnapped byher father at gun point on 28 April2002, her father-in-law called the localpolice to register a complaint becausehe was afraid that her father might gether killed on the way. But the Jaipurpolice refused to register a case onthe specious plea that the case wasunder UP jurisdiction because theSDM was from UP.

After returning to UP, her husbandtried to file an FIR in Kanpur but noone would accept his complaintthanks to Dohare’s influence. SatyaPrakash says Dohare called his fatherthe next day and told him: “Now thatI have taken the girl back, I will teachyour whole family a lesson you willnever forget.”

Her father apparently brought herto Kanpur because by then her lettersof complaints to various high officialsof UP had resulted in enquiriesagainst him, and he needed her to gethis name cleared in those enquiries.She says, “At this point, I waspregnant with my father’s child andmy mother got to know about it. Outof sheer anger and revulsion, I toldmy father, ‘You have been trying toprove me a liar for pointing a finger atyou. People in the outside world alsodoubt my word because they wantproof. Finally, I will have anincontrovertible proof to show to theworld in the form of this child.’ Withinno time, my parents forced an abortionon me on 21 May 2002. They took meto Sumita Nigam who runs a clinic inShishamau market in Kanpur. I criedand told her I did not want an abortionbut the doctor said, ‘you have nochoice. You better go through it.’”

We asked her how she was so surethat it’s her father’s child and not herhusband’s since she had beenmarried in the meantime. Pratima says,she knew it for sure for the followingreasons: “First, I had already missedmy period before I got married.Secondly, after my marriage, myhusband and I were living under somuch stress and terror that neither of

“At thispoint, I was

pregnant withmy father’s

child... Out ofsheer anger and

revulsion, I told myfather, ‘You have been

trying to prove me a liar...Finally, I will have an

incontrovertible proof toshow to the world in the

form of this child.’”

Even though Babu Ramwas a High Court

advocate, he was unableto get even an FIR

registered against Dohareand his goons.

8 MANUSHI

us were in a psychological frame ofmind to establish conjugal relations.Moreover, we were living in otherpeople’s homes where we had noprivate space. We couldn’t live likehusband and wife. That’s why myparents were dead-set on getting meaborted after I had let it be known thatI wanted the child as an act ofdefiance.”

Where did she get so muchcourage and spirit of defiance? Shesays, “Today, I have to go on fightingbecause the lives of so many membersof my husband’s family have beenendangered because of me. But at thattime, when I was barely nineteen, likemany young people I had the spiritand desire to stand up for my rights. Ihad no direct experience of suchbattles, I had only read about them inbooks and seen them in films and TVserials, so I expected the legalmachinery to come to my aid”.

Pratima’s father did not hide thefact that after he was cleared in theenquiries, he wanted to eliminate her.She says: “He let it be known that hewould get me murdered and implicatemy in-laws, alleging that they hadkilled me for dowry. Therefore, I wasreally afraid for Satya Prakash and hisfamily but I had no way of contactinghim because I was held captive in myown house and was not even allowedto use the family phone. Finally, indesperation, I begged our domesticservant to help me reach my husbandby phone. I told Satya Prakash thatmy father had declared it openly thatafter murdering me he was going toimplicate them all. Therefore, it wasimportant that he approach the courtto get me released from my father’scustody.

“My brother-in-law was at thattime so disgusted with the whole affairthat he wanted nothing to do with us.Therefore, he refused to help. So myhusband went through some friendsand colleagues of his brother whohelped him file a habeas corpuspetition on 26 May 2002 in the

was held guilty of ‘contempt of court.’On 5 August 2002, the case waspostponed to 7 August 2002 for ahearing.

Pratima says, “Since my fatherknew that I was likely to testify againsthim, he was determined to prevent mefrom reaching the Court on August 7.So he arranged for yet anotherkidnapping. At the time I was made tostay in some relative’s house inAllahabad. Early on the morning of 7August 2002, there was a knock onmy door and my elder brother Anilasked me to open the door. As soonas I did so, three armed men draggedme by the hair, threw me into a car,tied my hands and feet, blindfoldedme, and drove away. I think they hadchloroformed me because as soon asthey threw me in the car I passed out.

“They seized me so abruptly thatI didn’t even have slippers on my feet.When I regained consciousness, wewere somewhere on the highway. I wasdisoriented and had no idea where wewere going. The three men were armedand had apparently been instructedto eliminate me. This was laterconfirmed when I discovered that onthe very day I was abducted by myfather’s goons, he had registered anFIR with the Dhumanganj policestation in Allahabad alleging I hadbeen kidnapped by someone else. Hewas trying to stage my abduction asif he had no involvement.

“Some hours after being drivenblindfolded, I regainedconsciousness and requested waterfrom my abductors. They agreed tothis request.” When they gave herwater, they agreed to remove theblindfold for a while though her handswere still tied behind her.

As luck would have it, preciselythen Pratima’s abductors discoveredthat they had a flat tyre. So two ofthem got down to change the tyrewhile the third left the vehicle tourinate. Per chance all three abductorsleft their guns in the car. Pratima usedthis opportunity to seek help.

Allahabad High Court to seek myrelease from my father’s illegalcaptivity. This was listed for hearingon 5 August 2002.

“This further outraged my father.He had not expected the matter toreach the High Court. He tried topressure me to give a statement in hisfavour in the Court, once againrepeating his favorite threat, ‘Even ifyou manage to get a verdict in yourfavour with the help of kanoon,remember kanoona is in my hands.’ Iwas really in a terrible state. If I gave astatement in my father’s favour, lifefor me would be worse than hell ordeath in his house. On the other hand,if I went against him, I knew he wascapable of destroying my life and thatof anyone else connected with me.”

As a result of Satya Prakash’spetition, the High Court issued asubpoena to Virendra Kumar Dohare.He had failed to appear in Court ontwo earlier occasions. Therefore, he

“Since my father knewthat I was likely to testify

against him, he wasdetermined to prevent mefrom reaching the Court... he arranged for yetanother kidnapping....

Three armed mendragged me by the hair,threw me into a car, tied

my hands and feet,blindfolded me, and drove

away.”

“He let it beknown that hewould get memurdered andimplicate my

in-laws, alleging that theyhad killed me for dowry.”

No.156 (September-October 2006) 9

Pratima describes, “At thatmoment, I saw a state transport buscoming in our direction. I somehowmanaged to get out of the car and runinto the middle of the road. I motionedat the bus to stop and gesticulated toshow the bus driver that my handswere tied behind my back. Luckily forme, the driver came to my rescue. Theother passengers noticed the guns inthe car and decided not to confrontmy abductors. The passengersquickly pulled me inside and the busdriver sped away. Since the bus had afull load of passengers, my abductorsdid not continue to pursue me.

“At this point we were somewherebetween Kannauj and Unnao. I washungry and penniless. When the busreached Unnao, some fellowpassengers helped me to make aphone call to my mother’s uncle inLucknow. I told him of my plight. Healready knew about my father’sviolence and feared him terribly. Hetold me I would endanger him bycoming to his house or any otherrelative’s for that matter. His advicewas that I should go back to myhusband and no one else. But heoffered to meet me at Lucknow busstop and help me locate my husband.Finding Satya Prakash was difficultfor him because my husband was inhiding. ”

When Pratima reached Lucknow,her relative gave her some money andthe contact address of her husband.He also helped her contact a memberof the State Women’s Commissionnamed Anita who is the wife of a BSPworker and was known to Pratima’sbrother-in-law. Anita helped Pratimaget a lawyer, Rajeev Upadhyaya, whoagreed to take up Pratima’s case atthe High Court in Allahabad.

Pratima appeared in High Court on19 August 2002. She says, “Myhusband had no idea how I wouldtestify because we had lost contactfor a while. He feared my father mighthave coerced me to come to hisdefense. The High Court judge,

Justice R.C. Deepak, who was hearingthe habeas corpus petition filed bymy husband, called me for mytestimony in his private chamberrather than hearing the case in opencourt. My husband was not allowedto come in. This judge also happenedto be from the SC community. Apartfrom seeking release from my father’sillegal custody, I was determined toput all of the facts of the case againstmy father, including charges of rape,violence, abduction, attempt tomurder and forced abortion before thejudge. But he refused to take note ofthose facts. He told me point blank,‘Ek to us bechare ki ladki ja rahi haidoosra tum uski rozi roti bhichhinana chahati ho! (On the one

hand he has lost his daughter, on topof it, you’re trying to snatch away hislivelihood from him!) It should sufficefor you that I’m letting you go withyour husband. I promise you yourfather will not bother you anymore.As for the rest of the charges, it isbest that you forget about them.’Thus, despite my best efforts, I couldnot get a case registered against myfather even though I had risked mylife to do so. I wanted to put the pastbehind me and start a new life, but Iknew that my father would not leaveus in peace.”

Apart from repeated attacks onSita Ram’s house, Dohare got hiscousin, Mahender Kumar to institutea fraudulent case of criminal trespassand takeover of property against SitaRam. This was preposterous since SitaRam and his family had been living intheir home for years. Dohare wassimply trying to encumber Sita Ramwith legal entanglements. However,with great effort Babu Ramsuccessfully proved in Court that thiswas a bogus case meant as an act ofvindictiveness against their family.

Babu Ram was aware that he wasbeing followed by criminals and thathis life was in danger. Therefore, hebecame very careful about hismovements. However, on 23 February2003, Pratima’s father finallysucceeded in silencing Babu RamPratap forever.

Satya Prakash describes theevents of that day: “He laid anelaborate trap by sending a man calledUdayvir Singh who knocked at mybrother’s door at about 11 a.m. andbegged him to accompany him toBidhuna by claiming that there wasan emergency since someone closeto him needed urgent legal help withbail. My brother resisted since it wasa Sunday but the man fell at his feetand pleaded with him till Babu Ramrelented.

“In Bidhuna, Udayvir Singh tookBabu Ram to meet one KamleshKumar Yadav who asked Babu Ram

Babu Ram’s widow, Archana

“Apart fromseeking

release frommy father’s

illegalcustody, I was determined

to put all of the facts ofthe case against my

father, including chargesof rape, violence,

abduction, attempt tomurder and forced

abortion before the judge.But he refused to takenote of those facts.”

10 MANUSHI

to help him secure bail. Babu Rambecame nervous when he sawKumar’s long criminal history, but thetwo men kept him engaged for hours.In the meantime, Babu Ram’s wife gotvery anxious because he had notreached his sister’s house in Bidhunaas he was supposed to. So she senthis younger brother, Ramasre, tolocate him. Upon reaching Bidhuna,Ramasre stopped at a petrol pump torefuel his tank. At that moment, he sawUdayvir Singh. Ramasre asked aboutBabu Ram, but Udayvir Singh wasevasive. Ramasre was suspicious ofSingh but didn’t let on. He secretlystarted following Singh until hereached where his brother was.

“Ramasre insisted that Babu Ramreturn home at once. Udayvir Singhand Kamlesh Kumar allowed the twobrothers to go but apparentlycontinued to follow them. After a briefstopover at their sister’s house, BabuRam and Ramasre got on the scooterand left for their village. This wasaround 4 p.m. They had barely gone akilometer or two when their scooterbroke down. So they had to stop andget it repaired. Shortly thereafter,Udayvir Singh, Kamlesh Kumar andBrij Bihari reached the scene on amotorcycle. The three men pretendedas if they wanted to know why BabuRam was stuck on the road. KamleshKumar then accosted Babu Ram,saying, ‘The SDM has given me50,000 rupees to murder you. Howmuch are you willing to give me tomurder him?’ Babu Ram replied, ‘Hemay be involved in such acts. I amnot the kind who hires assassins.’Kamlesh Kumar then shot and killedBabu Ram. Ramasre was forced towitness the murder of our elderbrother but somehow managed tosave his own life by running into anearby field. With great difficulty hemanaged to reach home to bring thetragic news.”

Pratima says, “Babu Ram’s murderdevastated the entire family because,as the eldest and best-educated son

Prakash, Ramasre, and Nilesh who isBabu Ram’s brother-in-law.

Once again, Satya Prakash andhis family found it difficult to geteven an FIR registered, let alone aproper investigation into the murder.This, despite the fact that Ramasrewas witness to Babu Ram’s murderand could recognize and identify thethree men involved — KamleshKumar, Brij Bihari, and UdayvirSingh. Satya Prakash says, “We hadto move heaven and earth to get amurder case registered because theCircle Officer of the area, RajeshKumar, was not just a close friend ofDohare, but he was also particularlyclose with Kamlesh Kumar, the manwho had actually fired the shots thatkilled Babu Ram. The courts hadissued an externment order againstKamlesh Kumar from Auraiya districton account of his criminal record thatincluded nearly 50 cases againsthim”.

Of her father’s hand in the murderPratima says, “My father thinks thereis no one more powerful than him inthe world. He has police support, hemanages to get political patronage ofwhichever party comes in power, andhe can manipulate anyone from thebureaucracy to mafia gangs.

of the family, Babu Ram was the prideof our family. He was in his earlythirties and left behind a 26-year-oldwidow, a 7-year-old son, and an infantdaughter. My father’s personal car,URG 123, was seen that day near thespot of the murder. Dohare’s brothers,Ravinder and Arvinder Kumar, werereportedly inside the vehicle.”

Dohare was implicated in themurder under section 120B of the IPCand as a result, he was suspendedfrom his job on 10 April 2003. Thiscase is being tried in the District Courtat Auraiya. Among the witnesseslisted in this case are Pratima, Satya

My fatherthinks there

is no onemore

powerful thanhim in the world. He has

police support, hemanages to get politicalpatronage of whichever

party comes in power, andhe can manipulate anyonefrom the bureaucracy to

mafia gangs.

Pratima and Madhu in the three hour phone-in programme India Bole,put together by India TV at MANUSHI’S request.

No.156 (September-October 2006) 11

He can find a way to defy any law.In fact, he tries to get people’ssympathy and turn them against meby saying that I am making falseallegations of rape against him at thebehest of Sita Ram and Babu Ram. Heclaims that Satya Prakash and I werehaving a romance before our marriage,which he objected to since SatyaPrakash is supposed to be my cousinchacha. This is patently false becausethere was no such relationshipbetween us. He is my cousin chachaand not my fathers brother. I onlywent to him out of sheer desperation.I could not have gone to totalstrangers and the police andgovernment officials had failed to offerme protection. I choose someone Ihad some claim on account of hisbeing related to our family. But he hasspread the rumour that I and my inlaws are being vindictive towards himbecause he objected to my marryingSatya Prakash who has seduced meout of greed because he wants tomarry a rich man’s daughter and get afat dowry. In fact, Satya Prakashmarried me reluctantly.” This falsecharge of romance has so angeredthem both that Satya Prakash says hehas come to hate the word “loveaffair” since it has come to be used asa weapon against him.

In fact Dohare’s younger brotherhas actually married his real neice,after breaking her first marraige!Dohare finds that perfectly acceptableyet he went on a murderous spreewhen his daughter married a cousinuncle.

Satya Prakash adds: “Eventhough there was clear-cut evidenceof Dohare’s involvement in thismurder, and even his car was seen atthe murder site, no action was takenby the state government againstDohare. Through some seniorcolleagues of my dead brother, weapproached one of the members of theState Women’s Commission. She wasmoved by Pratima’s plight and

introduced her to another influentialmember of the Commission, IndiraPunia, the wife of the former ChiefSecretary of UP, Mr. P.L. Punia.Without these contacts, we wouldnever have gained access to membersof the State Women’s Commission.They hardly ever consent to meetordinary citizens. Indira Punia wasable to get her husband to suspendSDM Dohare and also help us getpolice protection for a while.

“After this initial help, however,Mr. Punia, who was also a ScheduledCaste IAS officer, refused to extendfurther help. Dohare managed to getthe then Transport Minister inMayawati’s government to persuade

Punia that as SCs they should protecteach other rather than go against anofficer of their own community.”

Both Pratima and Satya Prakashsay that through these years they gotmuch better response from non-SCofficials than from people of theircommunity. Therefore, both of themare very bitter against their owncommunity. The one officer who wasespecially helpful and sympathetic toPratima’s plight was Daljit SinghChaudhry who was then the SeniorSuprintendent of Police of thatdistrict. He provided them policeprotection for as long as he wasposted in the area. But after he wastransferred, even that was withdrawn.

Dohare’s vengeance keptaugmenting as he found her fightingback. Pratima says, “Soon after mybrother-in-law’s murder, Dohareinstituted yet another fabricatedcriminal case against my old father-in-law, my husband, and my youngerbrother-in-law. He staged the dramaof getting his cousin Pradeep Kumar’s8-year-old daughter ‘abducted’ andnamed my very ill, bed-ridden father-in-law, my husband, and my younger

Pratima with the Home Secretary of Uttar Pradesh

He staged the drama ofgetting his cousin Pradeep

Kumar’s 8-year-olddaughter ‘abducted’ andnamed my very ill, bed-ridden father-in-law, my

husband, and my youngerbrother-in-law, Ramasre

as the abductors

12 MANUSHI

brother-in-law, Ramasre as theabductors under Section 364A of theIndian Penal Code.

“We got to know that this girl wasactually sent to her uncle’s house inJaipur, but the staged drama wasmeant to implicate my family in yetanother criminal case. This was at atime when my father-in-law, alreadytraumatised by his eldest son’s death,was in a very poor state of health. Inthat condition he had damaged hisfemur and had to undergo a bonetransplant at the Safdarjung Hospitalin Delhi. After that, he was confinedto his bed and could not even walk tothe toilet. And yet he was implicatedin the abduction case.

“It’s very easy for my father toprop up false witnesses because ofhis official influence. At the sametime he was also able to get reinstatedin his job by paying off seniorofficers. He apparently spent 5 lakhrupees getting reinstated eventhough the case is still going on inthe court.

“My father-in-law was sodevastated by being implicated in theabduction case, especially after themurder of Babu Ram, that he neverrecovered and passed away on 19October 2005.”

Due to a lack of police security,Pratima and her in-laws found itdifficult to attend court hearings.Pratima, Satya Prakash, and Ramasreleft the state altogether and lookedfor a job outside Uttar Pradesh. Theyfelt they could not reside safely in anypart of the state as Dohare’s corruptinfluence had infiltrated seeminglyevery level of the administration.Since the family had lost their mainbread-earner, Satya Prakash had tolook for a job to support Pratima andBabu Ram’s wife and children. He hadcleared his B.M.S. exam in 2005 andwas therefore qualified for a medicaljob. Securing employment was difficultsince they had to stay in hiding. It isnoteworthy that Pratima defied her

Dohare on election duty asSDM during the October, 2006

municipal elections in UP.

traumatic circumstances andcompleted her B.Sc degree with thesupport of Satya Prakash.

Failure of InstitutionsIt speaks volumes about the

functioning of the highest institutionsin India that Pratima got no helpwhatsoever when she approachedvarious institutions of the state. Shewrote to the National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) as early as April2002. At first they did not evenrespond to her complaint. She sentthem several reminders, with no effect.She and her husband made yetanother petition to the Human RightsCommission after the murder of BabuRam Pratap on June 8, 2002. Thisparticular complaint was taken noteof. But what happened made amockery of the whole exercise. TheNHRC wrote to the State HumanRights Commission, which assignedthe job of investigating the complaintto the Circle Officer of Auraiya District,Rajesh Khanna. Pratima says, “This

man neither took my testimony northat of my husband’s and in-laws’.And yet he sent a report to the NHRCstating that I have been instigatedby my husband and in-laws to lodgefalse cases against my father becauseof past enmity.”

Likewise the UP State Women’sCommission closed the case in 2003on the ground of “insufficientevidence” against her father — allbecause when the State Women’sCommission summoned him for histestimony, he refused to show up.That should have been ground fortaking more determined actionagainst him rather than closing thecase.

Her application to the NationalCommission for Women (NCW) in2004 also received no response.However, when Madhu Kishwarpersonally took her to the NCW inSeptember 2006, they took note of thecase though their intervention did notproduce any results.

Madhu Kishwar met Pratima andSatya Prakash on September 9, 2006in the ZeeTV studio, where she hadbeen invited to comment on theirstory which had been put togetherby reporter Sanjay Chandra. Theyboth looked like hounded animals soMadhu gave them her phonenumber, assuring them on Manushi’sbehalf of extending all possible helpto them.

Pratima, Satya Prakash, andRamasre had to appear in the AuraiyaDistrict Court on 19 September 2006 aswitnesses in Babu Ram’s murder case.They were terrified of returning toDohare’s territory in UP. We were underthe impression that her father would besubdued by Zee TV’s public she, butshe had not counted on his genius forfinding more and more devilish waysfor giving vent to his vindictiveness.

On September 19 Pratima, SatyaPrakash, and Ramasre appeared incourt along with constable SuryapalSingh and constable Suraj Singh, their

Dohare organized themurder of the sister-in-

law (bhabhi) of BrijBihari, one of his mafia

gangsters, who wasinvolved in the murder of

Babu Ram.

No.156 (September-October 2006) 13

assigned security guards. (The threehad been granted round the clockpolice protection between the datesof 10 September and 25 September2006 in order for them to appear incourt.) The two constables werestaying at their house. As perPratima’s account, on the very day ofthe hearing, Dohare organized themurder of the sister-in-law (bhabhi)of Brij Bihari and implicated SatyaPrakash, Ramasre, and their brother-in-law, Nilesh Kumar, in the murder.Brij Bihari is one of Dohare’s mafiagangsters, who was involved in themurder of Babu Ram. It is quite likelythat Brij Bihari’s sister-in-law hadbecome an inconvenience and theydecided to kill two birds with onestone—get rid of her and destroy allof the men in Pratima’s marital family.

In order to evade arrest, SatyaPrakash and Ramasre had to go intohiding while Pratima began phoningManushi from Auraiya in total panic. IfSatya Prakash and Ramasre were arrestedshe would not even have the money tohire a lawyer to secure their bail.

MANUSHI could do very littleto help her in Auraiya.Therefore, we advised her torush back to Delhi at the earliestwhile we fixed an appointmentfor her with the Chairperson ofthe National Commission forWomen. On September 22,2006, Pratima reached Delhi andMadhu accompanied her tomeet Girija Vyas who at oncecalled a press conference andannounced that the NCWwould take up this case .

On September 25, 2006, theDeputy Secretary of NCWwrote to the Director Generalof Police and the ChiefSecretary of UP requesting thatthe NCW be provided with adetailed report about theinaction on cases lodgedagainst Virendra KumarDohare.

Neither the Chief Secretary nor theDGP bothered to respond to the NCWletter. Another reminder was sent onOctober 5, 2006. This too met with thesame fate. In the mean time, Pratimabecame even more desperate becauseher father’s goons had once againdescended on the village home whereher mother-in-law and widowed sister-in-law were living with the twochildren. Pratima believes they hadcome with the intention of killing or

abducting the children, but since hersister-in-law screamed for help andseveral villagers rushed to her aid,the gangsters fled the scene. Becauseof the way Dohare had managed toentangle Pratima’s husband and heryounger brother-in-law in a false caseof murder, she was afraid they wouldbe arrested and she would be leftwithout any support to fight herfather.

Finally Some ReliefTherefore we approached

Maneka Gandhi, who represents thePilibhit constituency of Uttar Pradeshin the Parliament. She phoned thePrincipal Home Secretary of the UPGovernment, Satish Kumar Agarwal,and told him that MANUSHI would beapproaching him with full details ofthe case. Within hours of that phonecall, Mr. Agarwal had assigned MrR.K. S. Rathore, one of his best policeofficers, to personally get the facts ofthe case from MANUSHI.

On October 16, 2006, Mr.Rathore, Senior Suprintendent of

Police along with two otherofficers visited the MANUSHI

office to meet Pratima. Hespent nearly four hourslistening to Pratima and helpingher write a detailed complaint.Within a day, the HomeSecretary invited Pratima andMadhu Kishwar to come andmeet him in Lucknow. They leftfor Lucknow on October 19,2005, escorted by two policeofficers.

The meeting with Mr.Agarwal turned out to bemomentous. He told Pratimahe would take personalresponsibility in helping herget justice and help her rebuildher life. This despite the factthat taking action againstDohare involves high politicalrisks because Dohare has avolatile and well organisedcaste lobby working in hissupport.

The man who set the wheels ofjustice moving: Home Secretary of

UP, Satish Kumar Agarwal

Pratima taking the blessings of DeviSwachhnarayani in Manushi office before leavingfor Lukhnow.

14 MANUSHI

Because of the Home Secretrary’spersonal interest in her case, theDirector General of Police (DGP), MrBua Singh promptly ordered policeprotection to Pratima’s family in thevillage. The investigation for themurder case in which Pratima’shusband and brother-in law werefalsely implicated has been handedover to DIG Daljit Singh, an officerwidely respected for his integrity andefficiency. But the DGP, Bua Singhdid not think it was feasible forPratima to register rape, abduction andattempts -to- murder charges againsther father since those incidents werevery old. This despite the fact thatPratima had knocked on everygovernment door and risked her verylife in trying to register criminal casesagainst her father when thoseincidents actually happened. It wasthe fault and failure of the governmentmachinery that she was not heard andthe cases were not registered againsther father. Therefore, we argued thatit was for the Government to make upfor the lapse and the time lost.

Mr. Aggarwal saw merit in this andinstructed that an FIR be lodged onthe basis of Pratima’s complaint and

assigned the job to SSP Daljit Singh.Within an hour of listening to heraccount, he also offered to secureher a job in a reputed firm. Pratima wasreluctant to accept the offer thoughshe desperately needs the money.Firstly, she is mortally scared of livingin UP which in her view seemed likeinviting death and worse.

She fears that no matter whichparty is in power, corrupt officers likeDohare in general, and ScheduleCaste lobby in particular carriesenough political clout to influencegovernment decisions. It is not as ifbefore MANUSHI took up her case,people in the Mulayam Singhgovernment were unaware ofDohare’s track record. But he keptgetting protection at all levels.

Pratima’s other major concern isthat, with UP elections due early nextyear, there is a chance that theSamajwadi Party might be voted outof power and Mayawati mightassume the reigns of power in UttarPradesh. In such a situation, therecould be a 180-degree turn in theattitude of the administration sinceMayawati would appoint her ownfavourites in key positions of power.

Under her regime, Pratima believesthat it would be virtually impossibleto get a Schedule Caste officerpunished.

Also she is now in her seventhmonth of pregnancy. Her husbandhas, with great difficulty, found areasonable job with a private hospitaloutside UP.

But we persuaded her to acceptthe offer, not just for financial reasonsbut also because it would be far easierfor her to follow up the legal caseswhile being based in Lukhnow. Herpresence there would ensure that hercase receives a measure of attentionfrom the highest authorities in the UPGovernment, atleast as long as Mr.Agarwal remains Home Secretary. Weassured her that if things do not workout well, MANUSHI would help herrelocate to Delhi and also fight herlegal battle in court.

Mr Agarwal ensured that withinan hour of her saying ‘yes’ to the job,Pratima had an apointment letter in herhand along with one month salary inadvance, plus secure and freeaccomodation till such time as she feelssafe enough to organise her own.

Mr Agarwal has so far deliveredwhatever he promised. Chief Minister

Pratima Singh Legal Aid FundWe will need to engage the best of lawyers to fight the legal battle on behalf of Pratima Singh and Satya Prakashin the relevant courts of Utttar Pradesh, including the Allahabad High Court. We cannot leave her at the mercy ofgovernment lawyers who tend to do a careless job and easily fall under the influence of bribes and string pulling.

Right from its inception, MANUSHI has been involved in providing legal and social support to individualwomen in need and also taking up Public Interest Litigation on behalf of vulnerable groups such as streetvendors and rickshaw pullers as well as for challenging discriminatory inheritance and other rights of rights.However, this has been undertaken on an ad-hoc and need-based manner without any special funds to supportthis activity.

We now intend to establish a full fledged Legal Aid Centre which will provide in a more systematic andsustained manner legal aid as well as social and political support to individuals and vulnerable groups, who arefacing life threatening situations and have no means of fighting their battles on their own strength alone. Thisproject may take some time to materialise since it requires substantial fund raising.

In the meantime, we seek your help in getting justice for Pratima by contributing to Pratima Singh LegalAid Fund. If perchance we get more contributions than are needed for Pratima Singh’s case, the money will beused towards the corpus fund for Manushi Legal Aid Centre. The entire account of Pratima Singh Legal AidFund will be made available on our website.

Donations to Manushi Sangathan are tax exempt.Please send your contributions payable to Manushi Sangathan, C1/3 Sangam Estate, 1 Underhill Road,

Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. You may also pay through our website portal at www.manushi-india.org

No.156 (September-October 2006) 15

We Urge our readers to send the following message in support of Pratimato the Chief Minister of U.P

Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav,Chief Minister U.P.Government of Uttar PradeshLucknow, UP

Dear Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav,

We appreciate the stand taken taken by the UP Government in getting an F.I.R. registered against Virendra KumarDohare on the basis of Pratima Singh’s charges of rape, forced abortion, abduction and attempts to murder her aswell as his involvement in the murder of Pratima’s brother-in law and falsely implicating her husband and in-lawsin murder and abduction cases. It is very heartening to know that Dohare has been suspended and arrest ordersissued against him. However, it is a matter of serious alarm that an outright criminal like Dohare should carry somuch influence with the state machinery that he could get away with rape, murder, abduction and a long trackrecord of corruption for such long years. We support Pratima Singh in the following demands she has listed inher petition to you.� Pratima’s in-laws, her husband, and she be provided with appropriate police security.� There be an impartial and expeditious enquiry into all of the false cases filed against Pratima’s husband and

other members of his family so that they are freed from the burden of torturous litigation and fear of beingarrested.

� Appropriate punishment be given to her father after an impartial enquiry for instituting false cases againstPratima’s in-laws by misusing his official position.

� Her father expeditiously dismissed booked and tried for charges of rape and murderous attacks on Pratima.� Her father be immediately suspended from his present job, because if he continues to hold his present post,

he will be able to misuse his office to prevent impartial enquiries into his misdeeds.� Babu Ram’s murder case trial should be conducted with speed so that Dohare can be punished for his role in

that murder.� Since Pratima has been rendered homeless and the peace and economic security of her family has been totally

shattered, she should be provided adequate financial support from the State Government to help her reestablishher life.

We hope the UP Government will take this case to its logical conclusion and ensure that Pratima Singh getsjustice and her father, uncle and other associates get their due punishment.

NAME ADDRESS SIGNATUREPlease email this statement to Manushi and we will forward it to the UP Government

Mulayam Singh has not onlysuspended Dohare from his job butalso ordered his arrest.Unfortunately, while theinvestigations were on, the DistrictMagistrate of Auraiya allowedDohare to proceed on leave,providing yet another example ofDohare’s ability to ensure thecomplicity of the localadministration. Knowing well thatthe local police and administrationof Auraiya would be influenced byDohare, the Home Secretary did notleave it to the discretion of the localpolice to either investigate the case

or issue arrest orders. Mr. Agarwalensured that the Governmentissued arrest orders of Dohare. ButDohare has gone underground andmanaged to evade arrest so far.

While Mr. Agarwal has gonebeyond the call of duty to helpPratima get justice, hisinterventions only highlight the factthat while individual officers may

respond to the call of duty, the statemachinery as a whole is heldhostage by criminal elements.

Given the volatile, caste basedpolitics of UP, it is hard to predictwhat the final outcome of this casewill be. Dohare may succeed ingetting bail and escape punishmentto wreak further vengeance onPratima or she may finally get justice.

We will keep you informed aboutfurther developments in this caseand hope MANUSHI readers andfriends will help in taking Pratima’sfight for justice to its logicalconclusion. �

Given the volatile castebased politics of UP, it is

hard to predict what the finaloutcome of this case will be.