Home / News / Urgent Appeals / INDIA: Police refuse to register First Information Report and act on a complaint by the wife of a victim in West Bengal

INDIA: Police refuse to register First Information Report and act on a complaint by the wife of a victim in West Bengal

December 9, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

9 December 2005
------------------------------------------------------
UA-232-2005: INDIA: Police refuse to register First Information Report and act on a complaint by the wife of a victim in West Bengal

INDIA: Death; refusal to register FIR; police inaction; rule of law
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, regarding the alleged murder of a man and the unsuccessful attempts by his wife to lodge a complaint at a police station.

Munaruddin Seikh’s brother and Rafiqul Mondal were running a joint business for years but due to certain differences, they soon parted ways and instead became adversaries. Munaruddin however, stood by his brother who anticipating trouble from his rival lodged a complaint against Rafiqul in Jalangi station on 23 October 2002.

The Jalangi police intervened and with their help the differences were settled amicably. It is however alleged that Rafiqul was not satisfied with this settlement and on 25 November 2005 asked Munaruddin to visit him. After a long wait when he had still not returned home, his wife Sarifa, went to Rafiqul’s house looking for him but did not find any of them there. After looking all over, she then lodged a complaint at Jalangi Police Station (General diary entry no 1786 dated 30 November 2005) alleging that Rafiqul had killed her husband.

On the same day, she found her husband’s body on the banks of the Padma River. His body had several injury marks and his hands and feet were tied with rope.

Jalangi police station was informed and the body was sent for post mortem to Behrampore General Hospital, Murshidabad and after that to the Behrampore Police morgue. The body was subsequently handed over to the deceased’s family.

Despite, Sarifa’s repeated visits to the police station, the police refused to treat her complaint as a First Information Report (FIR) and have taken no action in this case. It is alleged that they are waiting for the post mortem report to be released before taking any action. Sarifa also approached the Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal but received no help from him either. She has also been receiving threats from the accused.

We therefore ask for your intervention. Please write to the Director General of Police and others asking them to firstly ensure that an FIR is lodged and the allegations of the victim’s family fully investigated. Action should also be taken against all those police officers who refused to register the FIR, which is against the law. Protection should also be given to the victim’s family as they have been under threat.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
-------------------------------------------------------------
DETAILED INFORMATION

Name of victims:
1. Munaruddin Seikh, 30, son of Gubbar Seikh
2. Sarifa Bewa, widow of Munaruddin Seikh
Address: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Police station, Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal
Place of incident: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Village, Jalangi
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Rafiqul Mondal, son of Chaharuddin Mondal
2. Mr. Subir Pal, Officer-in-charge, Jalangi Police Station
3. Mr. Bitan Pradhan, Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal
Date of Incident: 25 November 2005 onwards

Case Details:

Munaruddin Seikh’s brother, Nairuddin Seikh and Rafiqul Mondal were running a joint business for years until things soured and they split due to some differences. They soon became adversaries and in the many confrontations that took place between the two groups, Munaruddin always stood by his brother.

Fearing an attack by Rafiqul because of their differences, Nairuddin lodged a complaint with the Jalangi Police Station (general diary Entry no 1059, dated 23 October 2002) against Rafiqul Mondal. However, the Jalangi police intervened and matters were amicably resolved. It is alleged that Rafiqul however, remained dissatisfied with this sort of an informal settlement.

On 25 November 2005, at around 7:30 p.m, Rafiqul asked Munaruddin to come to his house. After a few hours, when Munaruddin had still not returned home, his wife, Sarifa became anxious and went looking for him. She neither found them at Rafiqul’s house nor anywhere else and in desperation went to the Jalangi police station to register a complaint on 30 November 2005. In the complaint (general diary entry no: 1786) she alleged that Rafiqul had murdered her husband.

On the same day, she found her husband’s body on the banks of the Padma River with several injury marks. His hands and feet had also been tied suggesting that it was a case of unnatural death. The Jalangi Police were informed and the body was sent to the Behrampore General Hospital, Murshidabad (Unnatural death case no:21/05, dated 30 November 2005) for post mortem. The body was subsequently sent to the Behrampore police morgue on December 1 and then handed over to the victim’s family (disposal certificate-annual post mortem serial no 895, dated 1 December 2005).

However, it is unfortunate that despite Sarifa’s repeated visits to the police station, the police refused to treat her complaint as a FIR. It is alleged that the officers have been totally uncooperative and have claimed that they are waiting for the post mortem report to be released before they can go any further. Sarifa also approached the Circle Inspector of Police but did not receive any help from him. On top of this, she has also been receiving threats from the accused to not proceed any further with this case.

It is also alleged that Rafiqul, the man accused in this case is associated with Sajidur Rahman who is a member of the Panchayat Samity and is supposedly involved in illegal activities such as cross border smuggling. In this smuggling nexus, the border security forces as well as the local police and members of the administration are also involved.

Police inaction in this matter is a violation of Section 154, CrPC 1973. Since this is a cognizable offence, the police should investigate this matter as soon as the complaint is filed.

We once again see the collapse of the law enforcement system in the state.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Director General of Police and others asking them to ensure that an FIR is lodged and an investigation carried out.

Sample letter:

Dear _____________

INDIA: Police refuse to register First Information Report and act on a complaint by the wife of a victim in West Bengal

Name of victims:
1. Munaruddin Seikh, 30, son of Gubbar Seikh
2. Sarifa Bewa, widow of Munaruddin Seikh
Address: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Police station, Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal
Place of incident: Dakkhin Ghoshpara Village, Jalangi
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Rafiqul Mondal, son of Chaharuddin Mondal
2. Mr. Subir Pal, Officer-in-charge, Jalangi Police Station
3. Mr. Bitan Pradhan, Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal
Date of Incident: 25 November 2005 onwards

I am perturbed to hear about the alleged murder of a man and the unsuccessful attempts by his wife to lodge a complaint at the Jalangi police station.

Munaruddin Seikh’s brother and Rafiqul Mondal were running a joint business for years but due to certain differences, they soon parted ways and instead became adversaries. Munaruddin however, stood by his brother who anticipating trouble from his rival lodged a complaint against Rafiqul in Jalangi station on 23 October 2002.

The Jalangi police intervened and with their help the differences were settled amicably. It is however alleged that Rafiqul was not satisfied with this settlement and on 25 November 2005 asked Munaruddin to visit him. After a long wait, and when Munaruddin had still not returned home, his wife Sarifa, went to Rafiqul’s house looking for him but did not find any of them there. After looking all over, she then lodged a complaint at Jalangi PS (General diary entry no 1786 dated 30/11/2005) alleging that Rafiqul had killed her husband.

On the same day, she found her husband’s body on the banks of the Padma River. His body had several injury marks and his hands and feet were tied with rope.

The Jalangi police station was informed and the body was sent for post mortem to Behrampore General Hospital, Murshidabad and after that to the Behrampore Police morgue. It was subsequently handed over to the deceased’s family.

Despite Sarifa’s repeated trips to the police station, the police have refused to treat her complaint as a First Information Report (FIR) and have taken no action in this case. It is alleged that they are waiting for the post mortem report to be released before taking any action. Sarifa also approached the Circle Inspector of Police, Domkal but received no help from him either. She has also been receiving threats from the accused.

I therefore ask for your intervention. Please ensure that a FIR is lodged and the allegations of the victim’s family fully investigated. Action should also be taken against all those police officers who refused to register the FIR, which is against the law. Protection should also be given to the victim’s family as they have been under threat.

Yours sincerely,
___________________
PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Subhash Awasthi
Director General of Police
Government of West Bengal
Writers Buildings
Kolkata-1
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 4498 / 2214 5486
Email: padgp@wbpolice.gov.in 

2. Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5555 (O) / 2280 0631 (R)
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480
Email: cm@wb.gov.in

3. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani Bhavan, Alipore
Kolkata – 700027
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633
Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in

4. Mr. P.R. Ray
Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings
Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5656
Fax: +91 33 2214 3001
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in 

5. Shri Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 23074448
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: mailto:chairnhrc@nic.in

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-232-2005
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.