Jhabua nuns rape case

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The Jhabua nuns rape case refers to the gang rape of four nuns in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh in India on September 23, 1998, by tribal men. [1] Around 18-26 men barged their way into the Ashram where the nuns lived and ransacked the entire ashram and some of the men gang raped the nuns. [2] [3]

Contents

Incident

The nuns came from Tamil Nadu came to the Nawapura village in the predominantly tribal, Jhabua District at October 11, 1997 to set up a Medical Clinic at the Preetisharan Ashram. Three of them were aged between 25-30 and the fourth one was aged over thirty. They soon made the village their home. [4] The four nuns lived alone in the ashram which was looked after by two watchmen. The in-charge of the ashram was a priest, who is also their nearest neighbor, lived 500 meters away. The area also lacked street lights and its becomes entirely dark after evening. [2]

At night, about 2 a.m on 23 September, a group of men came to the ashram and requested the nuns to come with them claiming that a some children at a nearby village were ill. The nuns told them to call the watchmen, who were supposed to guard the ashram were asleep at the residence of the priest in-charge as the priest went to the town of Dahod for some work. The men started to force their way in by trying to break through the fold-able metal grill outside the main door. Realizing their intentions, the nuns blew whistles to get the attention of the watchmen who were asleep half a kilometer away. The men managed to break through the metal grill, the main door and to the one of the rooms the nuns locked themselves in. [5] The men vandalized and ransacked the entire premises, gold and silver ornaments including approximately 20,000 rupees cash was reportedly stolen. [2]

When the attackers started to leave, some men stayed behind and told the others that they would join them later and then dragged the nuns outside the ashram and took turns to rape them. According to the police, the fourth nun was not raped because she appeared older and got beaten up for trying to stop the rape. [2] [6] While the nuns stated that all four of them were raped. [7]

Aftermath

The Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh visited the village and hinted that the attack was a plot by Hindutva groups against the Christians. [8] He also related the incident with the chasing away of the Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat by the militant organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad. [2] A Jhabua court issued a warrant against Digvijay Singh then state chief minister and 14 others for alleged remarks on the 1998 Jhabua nuns rape case accusing Hindutva organisations of being involved in the incident, following a civil defamation suit filed by a local lawyer. [9] A Bhopal court cancelled the warrant after Digvijay appeared and furnished a surety bond for Rs. 5,000. [10] [11]

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharathi claimed that 12 of those who raped the Christian nuns were themselves tribal Christians, later L. K. Advani made the same statement in the Parliament. [12] However, five days after the incident, the local Superintendent of police(SP) arrested 15 men and the nuns identified all of them. The SP reported that none of the arrested tribals were Christian. [1] [13] It is also reported that only 6 families in the two villages are Christians. [2]

Investigations

The most widely spoken theory among the tribals is that a tribal man named Samna had problem with the nuns, paid two local gangs for the assault on the mission. Locals claimed that the man had fallen in love with one of the nuns and was upset when she repulsed him. [7]

The crime reportedly obtained communal and political color after the former BJP Member of the Parliament and VHP leader, Baikunt Lal Sharma justified the gang-rape as the result of "the anger of patriotic, angry Hindus". [14] [15]

A fact-finding team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the district and said that the episode is not just a case of rape, robbery and molestation, but points to a larger conspiracy. The NCW pointed out that the tribals were never known to rape women. They came across a report of a man owing the nuns some money and getting angry when asked to pay. The NCW also reported that the villagers depended on the nuns for informal education and medical help because of the lack of government services in the area. [14]

Congress MP, KantiLal Bhuriya accused the BJP for aiding communal elements infiltrating Jhabua from Gujarat and Maharashtra. [6]

The President of the Madhya Pradesh Christians Association, Indra Iyengar said that another catholic mission was attacked by vandals just miles away from the Nawapura village and Bajrang Dal members attacked another mission and uprooted it's fence. She also said that "3 attacks within a span of 5 days shows that someone has a hidden agenda." [16]

Convictions

In April 2001, Seventeen men were convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment by the district and sessions court. The men sentenced were Daru Mansingh, Khemraj, Pidiya, Pappu, Kenu,  Chatra, Badra, Ruma, Kesaria, Kamji, Bhurji, Daru Dhanna, Ramesh, Chamna and Bhitra. [17] [18]

In April 2017, the police re-arrested Pidia Singaria, after he escaped his parole in 2006 and escaped from police ever since. [19] [20]

In March 2019, an escaped accused Kalu Limji was arrested by the police after 21 years. [21] The Police reported that, of the 26 accused, 24 were arrested immediately after the incident and 13 were acquitted, while 9 were sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court. [22]

Reactions

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) accused the nuns of Conversion and the organisation's secretary B. L. Sharma claimed that the incident reflected the "anger of patriotic Hindu youth against the anti‑national forces". [23] [24]

The spokesperson for the Bhartiya Janata Party and the editor of BJP Today, Kanchan Gupta said, "It's only a rape." [25]

Head of the organization Bajrang Dal, deputy head of the VHP and a former BJP member of parliament, Baikunt Lal Sharma said that the nuns "were asking for it." [25]

Rajya Sabha MP Mabel Rebello said it is not a minority issue and only a women's issue. [6]

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The Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.

The Sangh Parivar refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindutva organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which remain affiliated to it. These include the political party Bharatiya Janata Party, religious organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad, students union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), religious militant organisation Bajrang Dal that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the worker's union Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. It is also often taken to include allied organisations such as the Shiv Sena, which share the ideology of the RSS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digvijaya Singh</span> 14th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, India

Digvijaya Singh is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. He is Ex-General Secretary of the Indian National Congress party's All India Congress Committee. Previously, he had served as the 14th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state, for two terms from 1993 to 2003. Prior to that he was a minister in Chief Minister Arjun Singh's cabinet between 1980 and 1984. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections he was defeated by Pragya Singh Thakur for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asaram</span> Indian spiritual leader and rape convict

Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, known by devotees as Asaram, is an Indian religious leader and convicted rapist, who started to come into the limelight in the early 1970s. By 2013, he was estimated to have established over 400 ashrams and 40 schools in India and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Gujarat riots</span> Sectarian violence in the Indian state

The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence against Christians in India</span> Anti-Christian violence in India

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The Kandhamal gang rape case was a crime in Ranaghat, Nadia district, of the Indian state of West Bengal, in March 2015. A 71-year-old Syro-Malankara Catholic nun was gang raped by eight men who robbed a Catholic missionary school. Before the attack, school officials told police that they received death threats. The rape was initially blamed on Hindu groups without any evidence by activists like Rana Ayyub and others. However, On March 26, 2015, two Muslim men were arrested for the crimes. Two Bangladeshi nationals were detained on March 20, 2015, on suspicion of their involvement in the sexual assault of the 71-year-old nun at the Ranaghat convent school six days prior, police said. North Dinajpur Superintendent of Police S. W. Reza said that the two suspects — Mukul Alam (28) and Md Majid (29) — bore a striking resemblance to those caught on the CCTV camera at the Convent of Jesus and Mary school on March 14, one of them having 75 percent similarity.

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The 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat refers to the wave of attacks against Christians mostly around the Dangs District of Southeastern Gujarat from late 1997 to early 1999. The attacks reportedly started at the end of 1997 before peaking during the Christmas of 1998 after the anti-Christian rallies in the Dangs District by the Hindu Jagaran Manch. The attacks included assaults on and killings of Christians, attacks against Christian schools, institutions and shops, damages, demolition and burning down of Prayer Halls and Churches mainly by members of the Bhartiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch.

The 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal violence refers to the violence that occurred during the Christmas of 2007 between the groups led by Sangh Parivar together with the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj and the Christians in the Kandhamal district of Odisha.

The 2008 Kandhamal nun gang rape case refers to the gang-rape of a 28-year-old nun during the 2008 Kandhamal violence. The incident received media attention during the riots.

1999 Ranalai violence refers to the incident of violence that occurred on March 15, 1999, in the village of Ranalai in Gajapati district of Orissa. The violence occurred after a dispute of adding religious symbols in the Khamani Hill of the village. A crowd of 2000 people, reportedly followers of the Sangh Parivar, armed with country made guns and weapons, completely burned down 157 Christian houses and looted the remaining Christian houses in the village. 14 Christians were injured including three injured by gun shots. An investigation by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the violence.

The 1998 Ramgiri-Udaygiri violence was an incident of violence that took place in the town of Ramgiri-Udaygiri in Gajapati District, Odisha on December 8, 1999. Two prisoners who were arrested for dacoity were murdered by a mob of 5000 tribal people after breaking into the sub-jail. In a separate case, a mob of 500 people looted and burned down 92 to 111 Christian houses and 2 Churches on the same day. 27 people were arrested.

On 4 April 2022, a 14-year-old girl was raped in Hanskhali of Nadia district, West Bengal, India. The main accused are Brojogopali Gayali and his friends. Notably they are associated with TMC.

References

  1. 1 2 Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rediff On The NeT: Syed Firdaus Ashraf reports from the MP village where three nuns were raped last week". m.rediff.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  3. ↑ Mahmood, Tahir, 1941- (2001). Minorities Commission : minor role in major affairs (1st ed.). New Delhi: Pharos Media & Pub. p. 119. ISBN   81-7221-018-3. OCLC   48508180.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Madhya Pradesh nuns' rape case: After 21 years, gang-rape accused arrested by police". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  5. ↑ "Catholics protest against gang-rape of nuns". The Statesman. September 24, 1998.
  6. 1 2 3 "Rape Of The Innocents | Outlook India Magazine". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  7. 1 2 "Rape Of The Innocents | Outlook India Magazine". www.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  8. ↑ Indian, The Logical (2019-03-06). "MP: After 21 Yrs Of Jhabua Nuns Gang-Rape Case, Police Arrest Absconding Accused". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  9. ↑ "I never thought something like this could happen in our village. The nuns were so good to us". Rediff.
  10. ↑ "Warrant against Digvijay cancelled". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 27 December 2003. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004.
  11. ↑ "Two held in MP nuns rape case". The Indian Express.
  12. ↑ Don't give communal colour to atrocities, warn ministers Indian Express - 16 December 1998
  13. ↑ The politics behind anti Christian violence : a compilation of investigation committee reports into acts of violence against the Christian minorities. Puniyani, Ram. Delhi: Media House. 2006. p. 486. ISBN   81-7495-237-3. OCLC   182969294.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. 1 2 "Rediff On The NeT: NCW demands judicial inquiry into nuns' rape". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  15. ↑ Bauman, Chad M. (2015-02-02). Pentecostals, Proselytization, and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India. Oxford University Press. p. 170. ISBN   978-0-19-026631-8.
  16. ↑ N. K. Singh (October 12, 1998). "Political parties politicise attacks on Christian community in Madhya Pradesh". India Today. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  17. ↑ "rediff.com: Gang rape of nuns in MP". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  18. ↑ "Jhabua gangrape: Convict who jumped parole held after 11 yrs". India Today. Press Trust of India. April 18, 2017. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  19. ↑ "It took 11 Years, But Man who Raped Nun Finally Arrested: Jhabua". SabrangIndia. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  20. ↑ IANS (2017-04-18). "Nun rape case convict re-arrested after 11 years in MP". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  21. ↑ "21 years after Jhabua nuns' gang-rape, accused arrested". dtNext.in. 2019-03-05. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  22. ↑ "21 Years After Jhabua Nuns' Gang-Rape, Accused Arrested: Police". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  23. ↑ "Hindu militants justify attacks on nuns". Agence France-Presse. September 29, 1998.
  24. ↑ Dalits and Human Rights: Dalits: the broken future. Gyan Publishing House. 2005. p. 233. ISBN   978-81-8205-274-1.
  25. 1 2 "V. ATTACKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
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