WUNRN
Website Link Includes Video.
INDIA - WOMAN GANG RAPED IN WEST
BENGAL, ALLEGEDLY BY 13 MEN ON ORDERS OF VILLAGE COURT
By
Sujoy Dhar - January 23, 2014
KOLKATA, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A 20-year-old woman in eastern India
was gang-raped by 13 men on the orders of a village court as punishment for
having a relationship with a man from a different community, a senior police
officer said on Thursday.
The woman, who is now recovering in hospital, told police she was assaulted by
the men on the night of Jan. 20 in Birbhum district in West Bengal.
Police said that her male companion was tied up in the village square, while
the assault on the woman happened in a mud house.
"We arrested all the 13 men, including the village chief who ordered the
gang rape. The accused have been produced in court which remanded them to jail
custody," Birbhum's Superintendent of Police, C. Sudhakar, told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
India toughened laws on sex crimes in March last year following the fatal gang
rape of a physiotherapist on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. The case
led to nationwide protests for better security and has helped sparked national
debate about gender inequalities in India.
The issue was highlighted in local media again last week after a 51-year-old
Danish tourist was gang-raped in central Delhi by at least five men whom she
had asked for directions.
The West Bengal victim's family told media that she was assaulted because the
court believed she had violated the rules of her tribe by falling in love with
a man from another community.
The couple were ordered to pay a fine of 25,000 rupees ($400), said the
victim's mother, adding that the village head then ordered the rape of her
daughter.
Human rights groups say diktats issued by kangaroo courts are not uncommon in
rural regions.
In northern parts of India, illegal village councils known as "Khap
Panchayats" act as de-facto courts settling rural disputes on everything
from land and cattle to matrimony and murder.
But such councils are coming under growing scrutiny as their punitive edicts
grow more regressive - ranging from banning women from wearing western clothing
and using mobile phones to supporting child marriage and sanctioning the
lynching of young couples in so-called "honour killings".
The assault comes after a spate of high profile rapes in West Bengal which have
brought Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee under fire for not doing enough to stop
violence against women.
West Bengal recorded the highest number of gender crimes in the country at
30,942 in 2012 - 12.7 percent of India's total recorded crimes against women.
These crimes include rape, kidnapping and sexual harassment and molestation.
Earlier this month, West Bengal's capital, Kolkata, witnessed public protests
against police who have been accused of failing to act on the gang rape of a
16-year-old girl who was later murdered. ($1 = 61.8 rupees).