Naresh Mitra.
In insurgency-hit northeast, protectors have been aggressors for a long time now, and women are the worst sufferers. There have been many instances, documented as well as undocumented, of women being raped and molested by men in uniform. Armymen deployed to contain militancy take cover under laws such as AFSPA, which give them sweeping powers and make them unpunishable in the civil court of law, to exploit the vulnerability of women in such areas.
Standing up against such crimes which armymen commit with impunity, women?s organisations have asked for necessary amendments to laws so that army jawans accused of rape can be tried in civil courts. One such group is Women in Governance-India (WinG-India), a network of civil society groups working for women?s security and raising issues related to the fair sex in national and international forums. WinG-India pointed out that one such case ? of a jawan accused of attempting to rape a woman at Dolopa village in Sivsagar district in July last year ? is still under the army court.
A lance naik of the 287 Field Regiment of the army camping at Nawjan area of Sivsagar attempted to rape a 19-year-old girl who was part of a group of women from nearby Dolopa village collecting firewood in the area. When the other women shouted for help, villagers promptly gathered at the spot and prevented the jawan from committing the crime. A court of inquiry was instituted by the army to deal with the case.
WinG-India, which is pursuing the Dolopa case, argued that if a civilian is raped by an armyman the case should be tried in a civil court.
Human rights activist Anjuman Ara Begum of WinG-India was part of an independent fact-finding team in the Dolopa incident. She says, ?As the jawan accused committed the crime against a civilian, the trial should be held in a civil court. There has to be necessary amendment in laws so that trials for such crimes is held in civil courts. Also, the accused should not be transferred to any other place till the case is resolved.?
The report submitted in the Dolopa incident by WinG-India and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression categorically asked for addressing the ?culture of impunity? created by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and other legislations in the context of sexual violence against women. It has also asked for giving civil authorities primary responsibility of law enforcement, including the conduct of military and para-military personnel.
?The most substantive issue that emerges from the way the Dolopa case unfolded immediately after the jawan molested a young woman but was prevented from raping her by women and men who gathered at the spot is that of a conflict of interest between the civil administration and the army over jurisdiction, the procedure to be followed when the accused is a personnel of the army,? the report stated.
AFSPA provides protection to armymen deployed in parts of the country that are notified by the government as disturbed. Human rights oganizations have been demanding repeal of the act as it has been blamed for violation of human rights by army personnel in the name of counter insurgency.
-via The Times of India.
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