Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 02.09.13
17-year-old girl gang-raped in Surendrangar village- The Times Of India
Criminal rapes 8-year-old girl; arrested- IBN Live
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/criminal-rapes-8yearold-girl-arrested/419043-3-242.html
Dalit girl rape case: Police claim rape accused is adult- Odisha Today
http://www.odishatoday.com/viewnews.php?news_id=5377#sthash.4UqpKET0.dpuf
Villagers demand arrest of NRI for abetting sarpanch's suicide- The Times Of India
Jind: Nine days, three autopsies later, dalit girl's death remains a mystery- The Times Of India
PT leader visits Dalit families in Pappankulam- The Hindu
'We want connections, not concessions'- The Times Of India
NOTE : Please find attachment for HINDI DMW (PDF)
The Times Of India
17-year-old girl gang-raped in Surendrangar village
RAJKOT: In a gruesome incident, 17-year-old girl was gang raped in Khandiya village in Limbdi taluka of Surendranagar district.
A case was registered against four persons for abduction and rape on minor Dalit girl. The accused have been identified as Ravirajsinh Zala and Dasrathsinh Zala. Two other who helped the accused were also booked by police.
The case has been registered with Chuda policestation on Friday evening. According to sources, the accused abducted the minor girl on Friday and allegedly raped on outskirts of Khandiya village. Later on, they took her in the village primary school and raped on her again. Then, according to complaint, took to Dhandhuka and raped on her.
Sources said that minor victim later on brought to village and handed over to her relatives by accused.
Natubhai Parmar, Dalit rights activist, who accompanied the victim's family, said that victim was first taken to hospital in Limbadi but there was no gynecologist. So, later on the victim was taken to Surendranagar and then civil hospital in Ahmedabad.
"It was a terrible story of gang-rape on minor. The community members of the accused tried to stop victim's family to register the complaint but victim's family were terrified and firmed and registered a case against accused.
IBN Live
Criminal rapes 8-year-old girl; arrested
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/criminal-rapes-8yearold-girl-arrested/419043-3-242.html
An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in the Ram Raipur locality ofBhadohi, police said on Monday.
The girl was sleeping outside her house when Sonu took her to a field and raped her on Saturday night, they said. He then fled the spot, leaving the girl writhing in pain, they added.
When the girl's family found her missing after the midnight, they started a search and found her in the field, police said.
An FIR was lodged on Sunday and Sonu, who has over a dozen criminal cases pending against him, was arrested, they said.
Odisha Today
Dalit girl rape case: Police claim rape accused is adult
http://www.odishatoday.com/viewnews.php?news_id=5377#sthash.4UqpKET0.dpuf
Kendrapara (Odisha): Accused of violating the Juvenile Justice Act, police today claimed that the third accused in the July 28 alleged rape and fatal burning of a minor dalit girl was an adult as per the ossification bone test.
"We conducted the ossification bone (age determination) test of the third accused at district headquarters hospital here. As the test showed he was not a minor, he was remanded him in jail following rejection of bail plea," police said.
Human Rights activists, however, claimed that all the three alleged offenders were minors as per their school certificates.
Chief District Medical Officer Shantilata Sharma, however, maintained that the headquarters hospital here was not equipped with age determination test facility as it did not have an orthopaedic specialist to conduct the specialised test.
The14-year-old tribal girl was raped and set afire on July 28 in Kendrapara district and she died on August 9 in hospital.
The Times Of India
Villagers demand arrest of NRI for abetting sarpanch's suicide
PHAGWARA: Agitated villagers and kin of Dalit village sarpanch, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train, held protests on Sunday, blocking movement of trains by squatting on railway tracks to demand the arrest of a Canada-based NRI for abetting his suicide.
Des Raj (40), sarpanch of Khangura village under Phagwara sub-division took the extreme step on the rail track between Mehtan and Sapror villages yesterday. In a suicide note recovered by the police, the deceased had accused a Canada-based NRI of using caste-specific language against him after he refused to sign some papers that Singh wanted him to sign.
Raj's son Balkar Singh along with other villagers, supported by BSP activists, held up a train by squatting on railway track here and placed the sarpanch's body on a mini-truck near the protest site demanding the NRI's arrest.
Hundreds of train passengers were stranded on the route when the protesters held up Amritsar-Jai Nagar Shaheed Express near Santokhpura railway barrier on the outskirts of Phagwara for about 45 minutes, police said. They placed the body of Sarpanch nearby in a mini-truck and squatted on the track demanding arrest of the NRI under various sections of the IPC and relevant Sections of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Government Railway Police (GRP) DSP Hardip Singh, Phagwara DSP Manjit Singh and Executive Magistrate Manvir Singh Dhillon reached the site and assured the protesters that appropriate action would be taken against the culprit. Meanwhile, a 'look- out' notice has been issued to all the airports in the country to ensure the NRI does not fly out, police said adding raids were being conducted to arrest him.
The Times Of India
Jind: Nine days, three autopsies later, dalit girl's death remains a mystery
JIND: It was just another Saturday morning, recalls Murti Devi. As usual, her 20-year-old daughter woke up around 8.30am, helped her with household chores, tucked in two chapattis for breakfast, got ready and left for Jind, 22 km away from her village Baniya Khera, to take a junior teachers' exam. She never returned home.
Around 4 pm, her father Surat Singh, a dalit who worked as a daily wager, got an anonymous phone call saying his daughter's identity papers were found in Ambredi village near a bus stand. Her body was found by a canal the next day. Her dupatta, purse and sandals were missing.
"Her eyes were still wide open with fear. Nobody bothered to straighten her curled fingers. And nobody tried to close her mouth. It was as if her last scream was still inside her throat," says Singh, his eyes fixed to the ground, fingers trembling.
Now, nine days and three post-mortems later, including one at AIIMS, nobody knows who snuffed out her life.
Her murder has been the focus of media in these parts of Jat-dominated Haryana. Scores of demonstrations by enraged Dalits and activists have rocked Jind. But when her body was finally cremated on August 31, after National Commission for Schedule Caste chairman P L Punia and local police assured protesters that the culprits will be caught, there were plenty of unanswered questions.
"We can't pinpoint any particular community's members responsible. Investigation is on," said Rajiv Rattan, deputy commissioner, Jind. The protests continue. On Sunday, a crowd of 800 agitated in Rohtak.
By all accounts, the young dalit girl, whose name is being held back, was special. "Of the 20-odd Dalit families in the village, she was perhaps the only girl who was a graduate. Her younger and elder sisters are married. Some neighbours said this was unusual," says her mother.
Post-mortem reports said the girl wasn't sexually assaulted. However, the family's lawyer Rajat Kansal claimed she was tortured. "People who saw the body near the canal said her salwar was bloodstained and there were cigarette burns on her body. But cops want to avoid communal tension and are playing down atrocities on dalits. They are trying to pass it off suicide," Kansal alleged.
Life is tough for dalit women in Haryana. As per police records, 22 dalit women were raped in the past 45 days in the state. Activists claim the real figure is higher. "Of 10 rapes, only one gets registered. There are cases where a family member was murdered for speaking up against the rape of a woman in his family," says Beena Pallical, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. In October 2012, the abysmal condition of women, particularly dalit, made Congress president Sonia Gandhi visit Jind.
It's heart-rending when Surat Singh and his sons relive the moments they first realised that something had gone horribly wrong. "When I checked with the school authorities after that phone call, I found that she had never reached there," he recalls. He then called his son who lives in Jind. On the way back home, Singh filed a complaint at Pillukhera police station.
"We stopped at various places and asked if someone had seen my daughter. But I was beginning to feel she was no more," says Singh. After the body was found, cops took it to the civil hospital. While doctors were tardy with post-mortem, public anger rose. Enraged villagers took the girl's body out of the mortuary and protested.
"I didn't know what was happening. I remember from being very angry to losing hope to going numb. I could hear people screaming but the voice I longed to hear was gone," says Singh.
After the first post-mortem was hushed up at a civil hospital leading to mobs going on rampage, cops ordered another post-mortem. "There's a reason why the mob was angry. The doctors' and police attitude towards dalit victims and rape survivors is uncaring," says Asha Kowtal, general secretary, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch.
The Hindu
PT leader visits Dalit families in Pappankulam
Puthiya Tamizhagam leader K.Krishnasamy on Sunday visited Dalit families whose houses were demolished in Pappankulam on Independence Day, allegedly by the Sirukudi Panchayat administration for alleged encroachments.
Describing the transfers of three policemen including the Special Sub Inspectors of Police of SIPCOT and Manamadurai as an eye wash, the Dalit leader demanded action against higher officials in Police and Revenue departments, who were responsible for the crime against Dalits.
Alleging that the Sirukudi Panchayat president T.Amsavalli and her husband Thangaraj had acted against the Dalit families with vengeance, he demanded that the couple be detained under the Goondas Act.
Compensation
He said the district administration should confiscate the properties of the Panchayat president and distribute the same as compensation to the affected families.
The Times Of India
'We want connections, not concessions'
BANGALORE: Raja Nayak's unexpected rise as adalit millionaire has uncanny resemblances to scenes from Big B's iconic films. Serendipitous, as Nayak is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan's movie Trishul. Nayak, in fact, headed to Mumbai to become a real estate baron, inspired by Bachchan's brilliant performance in the movie.
But the runaway teen had to return home with some loose change and a dream. The dream to be a successful entrepreneur took some time, but came true.
Today, 52-year-old Nayak runs a Rs 50-crore diversified business which is into packaging, logistics, packaged water and education. He started Akshay Enterprises, a company that deals with corrugated fibre board boxes used in packaging. Since then, he's got into the education business, built a logistics company called MCS, and made inroads into the packaged drinking water market with the brand 'Jala Drops'.
A strong proponent of Dalit uplift, Nayak wants to make a difference to Dalits, infuse them with the optimism that they can be arbiters of their own destiny. "Things are changing slowly. They have to think like entrepreneurs, becoming job-givers and not job-seekers," said Nayak, president of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Karnataka chapter.
Born entrepreneur
Nayak wanted to be an entrepreneur since his college days. Back in the '80s, when he was 17, he decided he wouldn't work for someone. "I wanted to be my own boss," he says. Nayak would take the night bus to Chennai, buy export surplus shirts, bundle them into gunny sacks and bring them back to the city. "I would dump the shirts before MICO gate (now Bosch) during lunch hour and they would sell like hot cakes. I made a neat 100% profit selling each shirt for Rs 100. I saw money very early in life, so studies didn't excite me much.
I completed my bachelor's degree through open university," he said.
He then got into the footwear business with his childhood friend Deepak Dingra, sourcing kolhapuris from Nippani in Belgaum district and selling to retailers in Bangalore. Nayak gave up the footwear business to start a fast food joint, Tawa, in Koramangala BDA complex. "Like all good things come to an end, I was chasing a bigger dream. So I got into corrugated packaging and logistics. But there's no looking back," he added.
Just back from a whirlwind tour of the state covering 3,000km, Nayak has mobilized 200 Dalit entrepreneurs in Karnataka to join the DICCI. "Dalits indulge in self-pity over failing to get government jobs. They didn't see an opportunity to create an enviable position for themselves. There are prejudices that run deep in society, but that shouldn't stop you from taking a stab at entrepreneurship," he said.
No to reservation
Nayak, personally, doesn't encourage reservation. "We are asking for connections, not concessions. And DICCI is the right platform for aspiring Dalit entrepreneurs to make those connections," says Nayak. Two years ago, he participated in a two-day national trade fair held in Mumbai, where he personally met Ratan Tata and Adi Godrej. That inspired him to launch the local chapter last year. He met Dalit icons like Milind Kamble and Chandrabhan Prasad, whom he refers to as his mentors. Kamble founded DICCI in 2005 and Prasad is its mentor.
In fact, the Tata Group has picked up one-third equity in Delhi-based Chandan & Chandan Industries, that manufactures industrial helmets. The group set up a corpus to invest Rs 1 crore for a 33% stake in a Dalit enterprise. "We had discussions with Tata Global Beverages recently and they are looking at more investments in such enterprises in Karnataka," he said.
Nayak started an education drive for Dalits on subsidies that can be availed by them at lower interest rates.
The Karnataka State Finance Corporation, for instance, gives loans up to Rs 2 crore for SC/ST entrepreneurs at 4% interest. Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) offers up to Rs 10 lakh subsidy for Dalit entrepreneurs who've availed of a site to start an industry. The state government has made a provision by allocating 22.65% for SC/ST entrepreneurs in upcoming industrial layouts. Recently, the government mandated that 20% of all government procurements must be made from the MSME sector and 4% of all purchases made from firms run by SC/STs. The DICCI SME Fund (DSF), a VC fund initiated by DICCI, has received Sebi's approval to raise Rs 500 crore in the next 10 years.
News Monitor by Girish Pant
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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