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INDIA: West Bengal police refuse to help victim of child trafficking

October 20, 2011

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-214-2011

20 October 2011

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INDIA: West Bengal police refuse to help victim of child trafficking

ISSUES: Police-criminal nexus; child trafficking; corruption
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has once again received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, concerning the case of 13-year-old girl, who was trafficked from the Indo-Bangladesh border area by a gang of criminals. It is reported that the police is refusing to take any sensible action to provide protection to the rescued girl or to her family who are now facing threats and intimidation from the criminals. The family tried seeking help from the police, but have been refused any help so far. The rescued girl finds threatened even to attend school at the moment.

CASE NARRATIVE:

The victim in the case is Nandini Halder (name changed), aged about 13 years, having residence at Buruj village, under the jurisdiction of Baduria Police Station, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal state. The victim girl resides near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

On 9 October 2010 a gang of criminals trafficked the victim out of West Bengal for flesh trade. The family of the victim approached Baduria Police Station to lodge a complaint against the suspects in the case namely Mr Animesh Mondal, Mr Bikash Mondal, Mr Haran Mondal, Ms Jhumpa Mondal from Buruj village who were allegedly involved in trafficking the victim.

The police initially refused to record the complaint against the accused persons. But after several efforts by the victim's family, the police registered a case, vide First Information Report (FIR) in Baduria Police Station Case no. 275/2010 dated 12 October 2010 under sections 363/366/34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The case is registered against the aforesaid accused persons. Based on the complaint the police rescued the victim and her statement was recorded before the Magistrate.

Despite this the police have so far arrested only one of the accused persons namely Mr Haran Mondal. The police arrested Haran on 8 November 2010. The rest of the accused persons are still free, residing in their houses. Now they have started visiting the victim and her family and are threatening the victim and the family with dire consequences should they proceed with the complaint they had file with the police. They want the complaint filed by the family against them to be withdrawn immediately.

Finding that the police is not taking any action, the victim's family informed the matter to the Sub-divisional Police Officer in April, 2011. They also filed a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, North 24 Parganas on 28 July 2011. Despite this no the police took no steps to help the family, or to arrest the suspects or to provide protection to the victim or to her family. The Baduria police even refused to formally record the incidents of threats by the accused persons upon the victim and her family. Instead the police only asked the family to return to the police station should anything wrong further happened. The victim's family has been living under threat from the criminal gang since then and the victim is afraid to attend school. The family suspects that the local police are influenced or bribed by the criminal gang and that is the reason why the police is refusing to provide any protection to the family or to arrest the suspects.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities listed below asking for their urgent intervention in this case. The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children calling for an intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Kindly provide protection to the minor victim of child trafficking, and her family from threats of a criminal gang

Name of victim: Nandini Halder (name changed), aged about 13 years, having residence at Buruj village, under the jurisdiction of Baduria Police Station, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal state
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr Animesh Mondal
2. Mr Bikash Mondal
3. Mr Haran Mondal
4. Ms Jhumpa Mondal
5. Mr Haran Mondal
All are residents of Buruj village and the accused in Baduria Police Station Case no. 275/2010 dated 12 October 2010
Date of incident: 9 October 2011
Place of incident: Buruj village, North 24 Parganas

I am writing to express my concern regarding a case of child trafficking, of which the victim, a minor girl aged just 13 years is still facing threats from the criminal gang who trafficked her out of West Bengal on 9 October 2010 due to inaction by the police. It is reported that though the police have arrested one of the suspects, despite a statement provide by the girl at the local Magistrate and at the police station by the victim's family, the police have thus far refused to arrest the suspects.

The victim in the case is Nandini Halder (name changed), aged about 13 years, having residence at Buruj village, under the jurisdiction of Baduria Police Station, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal state. The victim girl resides near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

On 9 October 2010 a gang of criminals trafficked the victim out of West Bengal for flesh trade. The family of the victim approached Baduria Police Station to lodge a complaint against the suspects in the case namely Mr Animesh Mondal, Mr Bikash Mondal, Mr Haran Mondal, Ms Jhumpa Mondal from Buruj village who were allegedly involved in trafficking the victim.

The police initially refused to record the complaint against the accused persons. But after several efforts by the victim's family, the police registered a case, vide First Information Report (FIR) in Baduria Police Station Case no. 275/2010 dated 12 October 2010 under sections 363/366/34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The case is registered against the aforesaid accused persons. Based on the complaint the police rescued the victim and her statement was recorded before the Magistrate.

Despite this the police have so far arrested only one of the accused persons namely Mr Haran Mondal. The police arrested Haran on 8 November 2010. The rest of the accused persons are still free, residing in their houses. Now they have started visiting the victim and her family and are threatening the victim and the family with dire consequences should they proceed with the complaint they had file with the police. They want the complaint filed by the family against them to be withdrawn immediately.

Finding that the police are not taking any action, the victim's family informed the matter to the Sub-divisional Police Officer in April, 2011. They also filed a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, North 24 Parganas on 28 July 2011. Despite this no the police took no steps to help the family, or to arrest the suspects or to provide protection to the victim or to her family. The Baduria police even refused to formally record the incidents of threats by the accused persons upon the victim and her family. Instead the police only asked the family to return to the police station should anything wrong further happened. The victim's family has been living under threat from the criminal gang since then and the victim is afraid to attend school. The family suspects that the local police are influenced or bribed by the criminal gang and that is the reason why the police is refusing to provide any protection to the family or to arrest the suspects.

I therefore urge you to take the following actions in the case:

1. That the police immediately arrest the suspects mentioned in the complaint filed by the victim's family at Baduria Police Station Case no. 275/2010 dated 12 October 2010;
2. That the victim in the case is provided with immediate police protection so that her education is no more hindered;
3. That the state government provides all necessary assistance to the victim's family so that the victim is provided trauma counseling by a trained child psychologist and that the state government covers all the expenses incurred thereon;
4. A separate inquiry is ordered into as to why the local police refused to act upon the victim's family's complaint so far;
5. If the inquiry reveals that the police was in any manner conniving with the accused in the case, immediate actions taken against the officers.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 22144328
Email: cm_wb@nic.in

2. Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 22144328
Email: chiefsec@wb.gov.in

3. Additional Chief Secretary (Home)
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in

4. Director General & Inspector General of Police
Government of West Bengal
West Bengal Police Directorate
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 22145486
Email: dgp_westbengal@gmail.com

5. Prof. Shantha Sinha
Chairperson
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Government of India
5th Floor, Chanderlok Building, 36, Janpath
New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23731584
Email: shantha.sinha@nic.in


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-214-2011
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.