Women In Jharkhand Face Rising Sexual Crimes, Institutional Apathy

A 14-year-old Adivasi girl from Jharkhand had gone out at 9:30 pm to attend nature’s call on April 13 this year. A youth forcibly caught hold of her, dragged her to a field, and raped her. According to the complaint registered by the father of the minor girl, the youth had been molesting and raping the minor girl for the last six months. When Outlook enquired about the progress of the case, the officer-in-charge at the police station of Chandwa said he couldn’t divulge details on the phone as he was unsure of the person who was enquiring about the case. 

The very next day of the incident, in a village, under Chandwa Police Station, a 10-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped and murdered. On April 15, the members of her family registered a complaint at the police station. On this issue, officer-in-charge of Chandwa, Bablu Kumar, said, “In case number 92/23, we arrested five people within a week of the incident. They have confessed to the crime. To hide their crime, they threw the body behind her house. On June 30, a chargesheet has been filed in this regard. The trial is on.”

But the police failed to divulge the details of the incident of April 13, but gave the details of the incident that took place on April 14. Why? On this issue, the uncle of the Dalit minor girl said, “We had to launch an agitation for the police to take appropriate action. The residents had to gherao the SP at Latehar. After this, five people got arrested. The police had even threatened me for carrying out the agitation. But it is our constitutional right to carry on the agitation for our rights. We will continue doing so.”

On July 14, one more minor girl was raped in a village under Chandwa police station. The father of the girl had filed an FIR in this case. In case number 149/23, many sections have been applied in accordance with the POCSO Act. But no arrests were made till July 15. Further information could not be divulged in this regard by the police officer on phone. In Latehar district of Jharkhand, there have been three such incidents with minor girls that have been reported in three months under one police station, but no cases were filed. It is evident that these incidents did not make news.

Latehar has 12 police stations. According to media reports, the incident of July 14 was a fresh case of molestation and rape. Prior to this, in the month of June, under the Barvadih police station area of Latehar, two Dalit minor girls were kidnapped and raped for a week. When the family members of the minor girls registered a complaint, considering the seriousness of the issue, the district SP formed a SIT. The investigations highlighted kidnapping and rape of these victims and said the police helped in the release of the victims on July 9 and arrested four accused.

Now let us move from the villages to the cities where the police administration is supposedly more vigilant and alert. In the capital city of Ranchi this month, within 48 hours, two minor girl students were gang-raped. On July 14, when a minor student was returning from a birthday party, her friends started molesting her. When she protested, she was taken to an isolated place and gang-raped. On July 16, a minor girl was gang-raped by her friends when she was returning home from a late night party. 

In both Latehar and Ranchi districts, crimes against women have increased in the past three years. According to the data of the Jharkhand Police, between 2020 and 2022, 186 such cases have been registered in Latehar. Prior to this, between 2017 and 2019, 138 cases were registered. The increase in these cases is much more in Ranchi than Latehar. Between 2020 and 2022, the incidents of rape were 627 in Ranchi. Between 2017 and 2019, the figure was 528. 

The Jharkhand Police’s website has data only till February 2023. If we add the incidents of rape of the last two months, in the last 38 months, 198 rape cases in Latehar and 660 rape cases in Ranchi have been registered. This means that roughly in every 5.8 days at Latehar and in 1.75 days at Ranchi, there is an incident of rape. If media reports are to be believed, after February there have been six rape cases in Latehar and more than half a dozen of such cases in Ranchi. 

The incident of alleged rape of two Manipuri tribal women has been termed as a black chapter in the history of the country by Jharkhand CM. On this statement of the CM, the spokesperson of Jharkhand BJP, Pratul Shahdeo, says, “Everyday in Jharkhand too, such incidents of rape are taking place with tribal women. The CM should also be speaking on this. These incidents are also black chapters in the history of the state during his tenure. These need to be counted too because in the last three and a half years, whatever incidents of rape have occurred, most of them have taken place with tribal Dalit girls. CM repeatedly says that his government is for the tribals. However, till date the Scheduled Tribes Commission has not been constituted and the Jharkhand Women’s Commission has not be reorganised. He is talking about other states, but he should be looking at his own state.”

In Jharkhand, around a dozen commissions and boards have not been reorganised. Since June 6, 2020, the Jharkhand Women Commission is not operative. The term of the office of the Women Commission is for three years. This means that the commission has not been reorganised for more than its three years’ tenure. Jharkhand is a tribal-dominated state, where out of 24 districts, 14 districts come under the 5th Schedule of the Constitution. However, since the formation of the state, the Scheduled Tribes Commission has not been constituted till now.

Ratan Tirky, an erstwhile member of the Jharkhand Tribal Advisory Council (TAC), considers these incidents to be the failure of the administrative machinery. He says that apart from the government here, the governor should also be held accountable since the governor is the custodian of the 5th Schedule states. The governor should summon both the administration and the DGP and enquire as to why these incidents are taking place with tribal women.

He further adds, “For both the Congress and the Jharkhand Mutki Morcha (JMM)―the JMM and the Congress party have been in coalition for the past three and a half years―animals are much more important than women of the state. That is why they have not considered the constitution of Women Commission and Scheduled Tribes Commission. However, they give importance to reorganising the Jharkhand Cow Service Commission. This is unfortunate. The neighbouring state of Bihar has only a per cent of tribals, but they have a Scheduled Tribes Commission. In spite of the fact that Jharkhand Scheduled Tribes Commission. However, they gave importance to reorganising of Jharkhand Cow Service Commission. This is unfortunate."

The incidences of rape on tribal women of Santhal Pargana in the recent years have led to wrath and attacks by the erstwhile cabinet minister of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Louis Marani, on CM Hemant Soren. CM Soren has been a legislator from Barhait constituency of Santhal Pargana and Louis Marandi has been a legislator from the JMM-dominant Dumka. 

Louis Marani, while speaking to Outlook on the issue of rape, says, “The incidences of crimes and rapes against women are taking place across the state. However, there has been increase in these crimes against tribal women in Santhal Prgana. The laws are not being followed properly. The administration is completely ineffective. The government does not seem to be serious about the issues of women. Had it been visible, the Women’s Commission would have been constituted long back. I had worked as a member of Women Commission. I know the importance of this commission. There are many cases related to women that come here. The commission is of great help to many women.”

According to a report, the dormancy of the commission has led to an accumulation of 4,174 complaint letters related to women in the initial two years, the hearing of which is still pending. When Outlook tried to question Jharkhand Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Security, Joba Majhi, about the delay in the constitution of the Women’s Commission and issues of women safety, she replied hastily, “It has not been done, it will be done.” The call was then disconnected. When this reporter tried to contact the minister again, the call was received and cut. 

The district of Santhal Pargana, mentioned by Louis Marandi, has been witness to these incidences in the recent three years. In Dumka between 2017 and 2019, there have been 162 cases registered and between 2020 and 2022, there have been 99 cases. In Sahibgunj, between 2017 and 2019, there have been 314 cases. While between 2020 and 2022, there have been 240 cases registered. The data given by Jharkhand police states that between January 2020 and February 2023, in 38 months, there have been 5,255 cases of rape in the state.

Human Rights worker Gladosn Dungdung says, “After the Manipur incident, both the ruling and the opposition parties are accusing each other instead of working together to stop the crimes against women. I believe no one is serious on women issues―whether it is the government or the opposition party. People are asking to speak on the incidences that took place in Rajasthan and Bengal after the Manipur incident. Soren is also a part of it. He is speaking on Manipur incident but he is unable to stop crimes against women in his own state. Right now his only aim is to win elections.”

(Translated by Kaveri Mishra)