Chinmayanand accuser jailed, forensic fraud in 3 rape cases, ‘Sorry, Amma’
The 1 October edition of Note This — our weekly round-up of media reports and opinions on sexual assault
Both the complainant and the accused in the Shahjahanpur case have been arrested and denied bail. While former BJP Union minister Swami Chinmayanand faces charges of sexual assault (but not amounting to rape), his 23-year-old accuser has been arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from the Uttar Pradesh leader. These developments have added momentum to the already raging controversy on how the system in India fails those who allege sexual assault by powerful men.
Editor’s pick
If you want to be heard by those in power, digital coverage is a better bet than traditional media, says Bharat Nayak, founder member of the Logical Indian, a popular news platform. In an interview with NewsTracker’s Saumya Agrawal, he explains why he thinks digital media can empower survivors of sexual violence.
Across India: news since last Tuesday
Less than a week after Swami Chinmayanand was arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting a young woman, his accuser found herself behind bars too. While the Special Investigation Team (SIT) say they have evidence she was trying to blackmail the leader, there has been much media and political speculation about the motives behind the arrest.
The Print questions whether the UP police is “weakening” the case against Chinmayanand by booking the woman, while an Indian Express editorial titled ‘Cop out’ says the “UP police’s conduct raises serious questions… [I]t will be watched”. The Scroll adopts a tone of foreboding when it asks, “Is the Unnao case going to play out yet again?”
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police stirred up even more controversy when as many as 80 Congress workers were arrested ahead of a protest rally they had planned to carry out in support of the woman complainant.
Forensics fraud
Two senior officials working at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), New Delhi, have been booked for allegedly tampering with DNA evidence in order to “save” three men accused of sexual assault in three different cases. The Central Bureau of Investigation has said that the two officials, including a former deputy director of the FSL, abused their positions to give false reports. According to the Times of India, the officials’ actions “helped all three accused get favourable judgments”. The motives of the officials remain unspe
Death penalty
In 2013, a Madhya Pradesh teenager was found guilty of sexually assaulting and killing a seven-year-old girl. He ended up spending three years in an “observation home”. In 2018, he struck again, this time raping and killing the four-year-old of a family friend. Today, a court in Indore sentenced the 22-year-old to death for the crime.
Also sentenced to death in another court in Madhya Pradesh was 25-year-old Ravi Malviya, who raped and killed the seven-year-old daughter of a friend in 2015.
Insult to injury
According to reports, the Unnao rape survivor and her family have been turned away by landlords in Delhi because of their case against former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Last week, a court in Delhi was forced to intervene and has asked the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to make living arrangements for the family for at least the next 11 months.
The Supreme Court has given the Gujarat government two weeks to “compensate” Godhra riots rape survivor Bilkis Bano with Rs 50 lakh, a job, and housing, as stipulated in an April ruling. The state government said it had not complied thus far with the order since it wanted the court to “reconsider its directive”, reported News18.
‘Sorry, Amma’
The repeated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl, by as many as 30 men over a two-year period, has shocked Kerala. The child’s father allegedly pushed her into the “sex trade” when she was just 10 years old. A large section of the national media has paid particular attention to a note the child hastily scribbled on the door of her house before being taken to a shelter home. The note said, “Sorry, Amma” since she felt a sense of guilt for no longer contributing to the family’s finances, reported the Times of India.
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This roundup is curated from the RSS feeds of more than 30 English news publications from across India.
See the full list of rape and sexual violence cases reported this week and earlier on our web tool, NewsTracker Data. Use our search function or select one of our boards (such as #MeToo, #KeralaPriest, or #PoliticsofRape) to read reports on specific cases and/or themes.
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