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INDIA: Young woman murdered due to dowry demands

June 7, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

08 June 2005
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UA-91-2005: INDIA: Young woman murdered due to dowry demands

INDIA: Murder, police inaction, rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources about the murder of a young woman, about 24 years of age, in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh, at the hands of her in-laws who were demanding a dowry payment (payment of money and goods).

Rukhsana married Athar Ali, from the same district, in February 2003. Soon after the marriage, Athar Ali and his family started making undue demands on Rukhsana for money and other goods.

On 8 May 2005, Athar Ali and his family started beating Rukhsana. It is alleged that soon after, they strangled her to death, poured kerosene oil over her body and set it alight. Thereafter, Athar Ali went to Rukhsana’s father, Mohammad Farukh’s house and asked him to accompany him back to their house, stating that his daughter was unwell. Farukh and his two sons went along and found Rukhsana’s badly burnt corpse. They decided to report the death to the police and Athar Ali’s father volunteered to go along.

However, the group never reached the police station. Farukh and his sons were taken to a brick kiln and kept as captives for two hours. A constable from Dildar Nagar was called for and he took Farukh’s signature on a blank paper saying that he needed this as consent for carrying out the post mortem.

On May 11, Farukh sent a complaint by post to the Station House officer, Ghazipur but no First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged.

Please immediately send a letter to the superintendent of police, Ghazipur, asking him to order an impartial and thorough investigation into this case. A proper forensic science examination should be carried out. Those people responsible for Rukhsana’s horrific death should be punished. Those police officers who failed in their duty to take the required action should also be punished. The AHRC also urges state governments to strongly implement anti-dowry laws and take effective action against perpetrators of dowry crimes.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION

Name of the victim: Rukhsana, age about 24 years, daughter of Mohammad Farukh
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Athar Ali, Rukhsana’s husband
2. Mazhar Ali, Rukhsana’s father-in-law
Date and time of the incident: 8 May 2005, at around 9:00 p.m.
Place of the incident: Ghazipur District, Uttar Pradesh

Case Details:

In February 2003, Rukhsana, a resident of Yusufpur, Ghazipur District, married Athar Ali, belonging to Raksaha, also of Ghazipur District.

As is the custom in many Indian states now, Rukhsana’s father, Mohammad Farukh, provided a dowry to his daughter’s new husband; this despite Farukh being very poor and barely able to fulfil the daily needs of his family. However soon after providing the dowry, Rukhsana’s husband and his family started demanding more money. They also wanted her father to give them a motorcycle. As the demands grew, they would often send her to her father’s place to get money. There were times when in order to punish her for not giving into their demands they would starve her of food.

The situation deteriorated until 8 May 2004, at around 9:00 p.m., Athar Ali and his father, Mazhar Ali, started beating Rukhsana. It is alleged that they then strangled her to death, poured kerosene oil over her body and set it alight.

Athar Ali then went to Mohammad Farukh’s house, asking him to accompany him back to his house, as Rukhsana was not well. Farukh and his two sons immediately went along and on reaching Athar Ali’s house, saw Rukhsana’s badly burnt body. When Farukh said he would go and report this to the police, Mazhar offered to go along with him and his sons.

However, Farukh and his sons never reached the police station. Instead, they were held as hostages for about two hours at a brick kiln by Mazhar Ali. A constable known to Rukhsana’s in-laws was called from Dildar Nagar. He took Farukh’s signatures on a blank paper saying it was needed to get post mortem procedures started.

Rukhsana’s husband and in-laws then started saying that they were not responsible for Rukhsana’s death and asked Farukh to join them for the funeral. On May 11, Farukh sent a complaint by registered post to the Station House Officer, Ghazipur but no FIR was filed and hence there has been no investigation.

Though illegal under law, there are numerous cases of people demanding dowry in India. Unable to meet demands posed by husbands or their families, girls either commit suicide or are killed by those demanding it. While there has been increasing awareness about this issue and girls have refused to marry boys who demand dowry and have registered complaints against them, it is still necessary for the state governments to be more vigilant and enforce the anti-dowry law more strictly. Punishments under the law for dowry deaths are quite severe and a vigilant enforcement will go a long way in eradicating this practice.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the Superintendent of Police, Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh, asking him to order a thorough and impartial investigation into the case along with a proper forensic examination.

Sample letter:

Dear Mr Mathur,

Re: Young woman murdered due to dowry demands

Name of the victim: Rukhsana, age about 24 years, daughter of Mohammad Farukh
Alleged perpetrators:
1.Athar Ali, Rukhsana’s husband
2.Mazhar Ali, Rukhsana’s father-in-law
Date and time of the incident: 8 May 2005, at around 9:00 p.m.
Place of the incident: Ghazipur District, Uttar Pradesh

I write to express concern over the death of a young woman due to dowry demands by her in-laws in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh.

Rukhsana married Athar Ali in February 2003. Soon after the marriage, Athar Ali and his family started making undue demands on Rukhsana for money and other goods.

On 8 May 2005, at around 9:00 p.m, Athar Ali and his family started beating Rukhsana. It is alleged that soon after, they strangled her to death, poured kerosene oil over her body and set it alight. At around 1:30 a.m, Athar Ali went to Rukhsana’s father, Mohammad Farukh’s house and asked him to accompany him back to their house since his daughter was unwell. Farukh and his two sons went along and found Rukhsana’s badly burnt corpse. Farukh decided to report the case to the police and Athar Ali’s father volunteered to go along.

However, the group never reached the police station. Farukh and his sons were taken to a brick kiln and kept as captives for two hours. A constable from Dildar Nagar was called for and he took Farukh’s signature on a blank paper saying that he needed this as consent for carrying out the post mortem.

On May 11, Farukh sent a complaint by post to the Station House officer, Ghazipur but no First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged as yet.
 
I therefore ask you to intervene in this case. A full and impartial investigation must be conducted so as to determine exactly what occurred. Such an investigation must include a proper forensic examination along correct procedural lines. Those found responsible for the young woman’s death must be charged and brought to justice for their crimes. Additionally, those police officers who failed in their duty to register the case and investigate the matter should face legal/disciplinary action. Finally State governments must strictly enforce anti-dowry laws and ensure that those responsible for dowry crimes are punished accordingly.

Yours sincerely,

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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. S.K Mathur
Superintendent of Police
Ghazipur
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Tel: + 91 548 -220568
Email:spgaz@up.nic.in

SEND COPIES TO:

1. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 522 223 0002/223 9234
Email: cmup@up.nic.in 

2. Justice A P Mishra
Chairperson
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission
1/183, Vineet Khand, Gomti Nagar,
Lucknow - 226010
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Tel: + 91 522-2726764
Fax: + 91 522-2726743
Email: uphrc@sancharnet.in 

3. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against women
OHCHR – UNOG
Palais Wilson,
 8 – 14 Avenue de la paix,
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: 41 22 917 9022


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission.

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-91-2005
Countries :
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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.