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Ram Kumari says, \u201cLet me explain with an example. Last month, a 16-year -old girl was molested by a 50- year-old man in Bagdari village. She had gone out to defecate and the man followed her. When she protested and screamed, her mother came running to save her. The man turned around and said that the girl was trying to seduce him. He said, \u2018She was the one who came to my fields.\u2019 Now, the upper caste people own most fields. What is her fault? When the mother went to the police, the cop said that the village pradhan gets a salary of Rs 5,000 per month. It is his responsibility to resolve it. After a lot of pressure, the cop registered an NCR and not an FIR. That too because the pradhan spoke in the girl\u2019s favour.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NCR (a non-cognisable report) as defined under the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) is a report for which the police cannot take cognisance or action. \u00a0It is understood that the police are not bound to investigate an \u00a0NCR.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in cases of rape, even after the medical test, [they] only file an NCR,\u201d Pushpa adds.<\/p>\n
But what about the scene of the crime? Some people say the Akhilesh government\u2019s Dial 100 scheme for police is working very well and police reach the spot within minutes of being called, I say.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t even talk about it. On January 9, when a woman was molested in the forests, she screamed and someone called up the 100 number. The police came within a few minutes but they don\u2019t do the investigation. They took her to the local police station. That is where the cops told her to get hold of the accused and only then will they register an FIR. It is not about the police reaching in a few minutes. It is about what they do after they reach,\u201d Ramkumari replies.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time, they don\u2019t even go to the scene of crime. New cars will get dirty on the mud paths in the interiors, no?\u201d Shanti adds with a smile. And continues,\u00a0\u201cThey take a round of the area on the surrounding metalled road and come back. Now imagine the kind of investigation they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just that. They even know who the culprits are. They are hand in glove with the local dacoits. I will tell you why. On January 25th, one of our members was threatened by a local goon. The police had to escort her to her house in Sarainya village. They dropped her on the main road and said don\u2019t go through that village. Next day, an old woman was found killed in that village. All her goats were stolen. The police knows which areas the dacoits will be in and deliberately don\u2019t go to that zone,\u201d says Phulwa.<\/p>\n
Munni Bai adds, \u201cThere was a time when, in the summer months, we could just keep our cots outside the house and sleep under the sky at night. We cannot even do that anymore because we fear for our lives. The dacoits are in complete control and there is no stopping them. In the last two months, eight dead bodies have been found in the villages nearby. They kill and loot and the police knows about it. It was just not like that in the previous government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go to the police, they say get a written complain even when they know that we are illiterate,\u201d says Savitri. \u201cDon\u2019t even get me started on that,\u201d she says, her face flushing with blood.<\/p>\n
Ramkumari says that assertions by Dalit women in the form of complaints are also seen as acts of contempt, \u201cThe land mafia has been all over the place in the last five years. Five beeghas of my land was usurped by the Thakurs last year. I went to both the Lekhpal and the SDM to complain. No one did anything. Meanwhile, the other day my daughter, who was going to college was slapped by the thakur. He said, \u2018Why are you studying? Work in my fields because that is what you are born to do. College or no college. Now tell me if this was possible five years back?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Most women in the room say in unison, \u2018No. No. No.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were scared of the SC\/ST atrocity Act. Now there is no FIR only. Forget the Act,\u201d says Shanti.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Munia explains, \u201cSee violence against Dalits has historically been very high in Bundelkhand always. Between 1994 and 1995, when there was a rising Dalit assertion in the state and Mayawati was sworn in as the first Dalit woman chief minister of the state, three Dalit pradhans were killed in one month \u2013 Harichand from Bhounri village, Phoolchand from Char and Ramprasad from Nihi by Patel leaders. But it had significantly reduced five years back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rupwati adds, \u201cLet me give you examples. In Bansipur village of Pahadi block, two Dalit brothers were killed because they sat on a chair in 2014.
\nSimilarly, in 2015, two Dalit teachers were kidnapped. In Barah Mafi, a 96-year-old Dalit woman was brutally beaten up when she refused to sell her land to the Patels. Her son was charged with the Goonda Cct and was in jail for an entire year. In 2012, the dacoits from the Patel and Yadav community asked for a ransom from a Dalit family in Udki village. The police dismissed their complaint. On the fifth day, the entire family had to leave the village and go to Satna because they feared for their lives. Similarly, in June 2016, in Dadri Mafi village, when a Patel opened an alcohol shop in a Dalit basti, the Dalits objected. They beat them up and the police did nothing to help them because they give them weekly\u00a0hafta<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nSuhagi Amma who had been silent for a long time said, \u201cTell me something. Manikpur has a railway police station. Each time some wire or pipe gets stolen, they catch hold of young men from a Dalit basti and jail them. We sometimes don\u2019t even have money to pay their bail. I want to ask that when a member of a Dalit family is accused of stealing, you catch hold of the entire family and take them to the\u00a0thana\u00a0<\/em>(police station). Why don\u2019t you do that with the family of an upper caste molester? The same police does not act when a Dalit woman complains of torture. So tell me now, if the police is casteist or not?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
So do the cops register any FIRs at all which are related to crimes against women, I ask?<\/p>\n
Shanti smiles and says, \u201cLet me answer that. Even in cases of dowry and domestic violence, when women are forcibly made to eat poison and end up dying, the police only register an NCR instead of an FIR. That too when the post mortem is conducted. \u00a0Violence against women is not an issue for the cops at all. The only issue is morality. They register FIRs at a lightning fast speed when an upper caste girl elopes with a guy. \u00a0This has been happening for the last five years. Check at any police station.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is the solution to this? I asked my final question.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the SP government, a record number of ministers and MLAs are from the Patel community. Most dacoits in Bundelkhand are also from the same community. The problem is all political parties give tickets to mostly this community from the region because they have money. As if no other community knows how to do politics. We want leadership positions,\u201d says Pushpa, underlining the need for justice for the region\u2019s Dalit women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Rupwati says, \u201cAkhilesh\u00a0babua ke raj mein bas log<\/em>\u00a0computer\u00a0wale ban gaye hain bas aur kuch nahin ban paaye<\/em>. (Under Akhilesh government people only became computer owners, nothing else).\u201d<\/p>\nSo is the BJP-led Modi any better?<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t even talk about the\u00a0budhau<\/em>\u00a0(old man). He said open bank accounts and you will get Rs 15 lakh. We did not get even 15 paise even when we missed a day\u2019s labour to get it opened. He is a liar.\u201d<\/p>\nAs the discussion comes to an end, I ask who they will vote for in this assembly election. Suhagi Amma replies, \u201cSince we are Dalits, everyone will dismiss us and as BSP supporters, will not pay attention to what we literally mean. But the truth is that Akhilesh government gave nothing to us but humiliation. Mayawati did not give us pots of money or\u00a0roti<\/em>\u00a0but at least she let us hold our heads high.\u00a0Jo sach hai woh sach hai<\/i>\u00a0(The truth is truth).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n