http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pLl7NPbkHSU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FUY2uUX6Uc&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGJlg3t1egw&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PUdXkyxk-_0
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2011/03/villagers-tortured-and-woman-sexually.html
Villagers tortured and woman sexually abused by police
by William Gomes
(March 25, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) Police carried out atrocities in
revenge of the humiliation of a police officer of Biral Thana in
Dinajpur district. The victims included men, women, children and the
elderly. They suffered severe injuries and the women victims were
sexually molested and abused. The police perpetrators remain
unpunished due to the culture of impunity and the absence of
legislation to protect the people from torture. The police have filed
at least one case against the villagers and are harassing them.
To-date no proper investigation has been carried out.
Mr. Lutfor Rahman, chairman of the Forokkabad union council said to
Srilanka Guardian that on 8 March 2011, at around 1am a group of plain
clothed persons knocked on the door of Mr. Shahjahan in Duptoil
village under the jurisdiction of Forokkabad union council of the
Birol police station in Dinajpur district. The strangers claimed to be
from the police. Shahjahan's family, who were aware of an incident
which occurred the previous night when a group of robbers claiming to
be police robbed the house their neighbor Mr. Suresh Mohuri, suspected
that their house was about to be attacked by robbers in the same
manner. The family decided not to open the door mentioning the
previous night's robbery. The strangers continued to knock on the door
demanding that Shahjahan accompany the "police" to locate the house of
Suresh Mohuri. Upon hearing this refusal the strangers, who were
actually from the police shouted at the family in abusive language.
The family, who were still uncertain of the true identity of the
strangers then called to their neighbours on a cell phone that they
were afraid of a probable attack by robbers.
The villagers came out of their homes with sticks and bamboos and as
they were approaching Shahjahan's house they saw some people running
toward a vehicle parked on the road. They chased the suspected
robbers, who switched off the headlights of their vehicle after
reaching an open place named Sotighata in the middle of their way and
stopped there. The vehicle restarted driving and stopped again at
Chhetra Bazar, which strengthened the people's suspicion about a
potential robbery. A few of the agitated villagers hit one of the
fleeing persons with a stick resulting in the person being injured in
the head. The villagers then found that the vehicle, which had been
parked, belonged to the police and that the group who had knocked on
the door of Shahjahan's house were also policemen.
Soon after, the chairman of the local government unit, Forokkabad
Union Council, Mr. Lutfor Rahman and Acting Chairman of Birol Upazilla
Mr. Md. Anwarul Islam arrived at the scene. Lutfor immediately sent
the injured police officer, who was identified as Mr. Md. Haider Ali,
Sub Inspector of Birol police station, to Birol hospital by the
vehicle of the Upazilla chairman. The public representatives
controlled the villagers and helped the rest of the police team
comprising of Constables Md. Muzibor Rahaman (Constable ID No. 1048),
Mohammad Isreal Haque (Constable ID No. 277) and Driver cum Constable
Mohammad Rashedul Huq (Constable Number 268) to leave the village for
the Birol police station Said Mr. Lutfor Rahman, chairman of the
Forokkabad union council.
Later the same morning, at 9:15am, SI Haider Ali filed a complaint
(Case No. 7, dated 8 March 2011) with the Birol police against four
named persons and around sixty unidentified villagers under Sections
148, 341, 332, 333, 353, 307 and 34 of the Penal Code-1860. The four
persons, who were made accused in the case, are 1) Md. Anwarul Haque
Uzzal, 2) Md. Shahjahan Ali, 3) Md. Jewel Islam of Duptoil village,
and 4) Md. Mamtaz Ali of Mokhlespur village of the Birol police
station.
Meanwhile, three police vehicles carrying two platoons of riot police
led by the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Sadar Circle
Md. Mokbul Hossain, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Birol police station Mr.
A. K. M. Mohsin Uz Zaman Khan arrived in the village. Soon after the
Superintendent of Police of Dinajpur district Mr. Siddiquee Tanzilur
Rahman joined them.
The police tortured the people including passers-by, farmers, students
of the school and college, children, women and the elderly on their
way to the village and after arrival in the village. They also
sexually molested young girls and women during the attack on the
people. The police indiscriminately tortured the visitors in the
wedding ceremony of a Muslim family and a child feeding ceremony, as a
ritual, of a Hindu family during that period. A large number of people
of different ages including women and children have asserted that they
were brutally tortured by the police. Local human rights defenders
also found marks of injuries caused as a result of police torture on
the bodies of the victims.
Mr. Azhar Ali, an elected member of the Forokkabad union council said
to Srilanka Guardian that while returning home from his daughter's
school he saw one police van and a truck load of police approaching
Duptoil village. At one place where the road was not suitable for a
bigger vehicle the riot police were taken in a small police van and
moved inside the village. The ASP of Sadar Circle Mr. Mokbul Hossain,
whom Azhar met on the way, asked Azhar to wait in the local bazar for
a discussion with the police regarding the incident of the previous
night. Meanwhile, Azhar received information from the villagers that
the police started beating people randomly in the village.
Immediately, he informed his colleagues of the union council including
the chairman Lutfor Rahman and rushed to the scene. When he arrived at
the village he saw people running around to and fro in fear of police
torture. Three women suggested Azhar not to go inside the village
where massive torture was going on. He also witnessed that the SP and
ASP were themselves beating people with the sticks in their hands.
When he requested the police to stop torturing the people the police
turned their attention to Azhar and ill-treated him. He witnessed that
the male police were openly molesting young girls and women. Whenever
a good-looking girl was found the police molested the girl and said
rudely, "This one is for me to marry!" Later, the chairmen of the
Birol upazilla and Forokkabad union council arrived at the scene and
insisted that the police stop beating people. This was finally done
after long aggressive debates with the SP and other police officers.
Mr. Balikanto (28), a day labourer of the village, showed his injury
in his left leg, which had bruises and swollen wounds. He stated that
he was beaten by the police while he was returning home for food from
a field after finishing an irrigation job in the morning.
Mrs. Mina Begum (24), a housewife, reported that her five-year-old
daughter, Afia Farzana Tania, was confined in a police cordon and
slapped by the officers while the girl was returning home from school.
Tania begged the police to release her saying that she was hungry. In
response, the police attempted to slap her again and forced her to
stay in confinement. Tania's parents were worried about the child as
she had not returned home despite the fact that school time was
already over. They approached the school and learned that the children
left on time for their homes. Then they went to area controlled by the
police and found their daughter crying. When her father requested the
police to release his daughter they attempted to arrest him. Following
the intervention from the public representatives Tania was released
after around four hours. Tania has been in a highly nervous state and
has developed sleep disturbance and appetite loss since the incidence.
Mr. Shudhangsu Chandra Roy (30), an agricultural labour, was caught by
the police from the field where he was working. The police beat him
and confined in their cordoned area for hours. When he claimed that he
had not engaged in any kind of violence the police threatened to shoot
him dead. Shudhangsu remained silent in the custody of the police
until he was released in the afternoon, again due to the intervention
by the public representatives.
Mr. Niranjan Chandra Roy (16), an agricultural labourer, was also
caught from the field by the police. He was beaten about his legs and
confined for hours. He sustained bruising to his left knee and leg due
to the torture by the police.
Mrs. Basonti Rani Roy (21), a housewife, told that her family arranged
the ritual of feeding a child according to the Hindu religion on 8
March 2011. A number of relatives, neighbours and friends were
visiting her house as invited guests. Her brother and nephew, who came
to participate in the ritual in her house, were arrested by the
police. Hearing about this news her husband Hemonto Kumar Roy went to
the police, who released the two relatives but tortured and confined
Hemonto himself. Hemonto's father Sotin Chandra Roy went to the police
to requesting them to release his son so that he could attend the
guests at his house. Hemonto's father was also brutally beaten and
confined as well. Basonti and all of her relatives then went to the
police and demanded the release of her husband and father-in-law and
asked why the police tortured and confined them. The police saw
Basonti's niece, a beautiful 17-year-old girl, and said, "We will not
let this girl to get married elsewhere. This one is for some of us to
marry." The male police officers improperly touched various parts of
her body despite repeated protests by the girl and the relatives.
Mr. Hemonto Kumar Roy (28), a village doctor, who had a ritual of
feeding his child at home, said that the police went to the Muslim
neighbourhood first, and then later went to the Hindu neighbourhood.
As soon as he told them that he was an inhabitant of the same village
they started beating him and then arrested him. The police confined
and publically molested a young girl, who was a daughter of his
in-laws. The girl was only released when her relatives asked the
police to talk to a senior police officer, who happened to be an uncle
of the girl.
Mr. Sotin Chandra Roy (55), the father of Hemonto, (mentioned earlier)
told that when he learned that the police had arrested his son,
Hemonto, he went to request the police to ask them to release his son.
Instead, the police tortured him, beating him with sticks all over his
body. Sotin showed his the bruises and swollen injuries to legs,
thighs, back and right hand. He demanded justice for the humiliation
of him in front of his relatives.
Mr. Abdul Wahab (56), a farmer of Duptoil village, told that on the
way to his irrigation farm the police stopped him and asked him to
describe the incident of the previous night. Wahab told that he heard
hue and cry among the villagers shouting: "Robber! Robber!" And later,
went to sleep when the sounds disappeared instead of participating in
anything as he is an elderly man. He told the police that when he went
to offer his early morning prayer he learned from his neighbours that
police were beaten the previous night as suspected robbers. The police
then took Wahad to another place and started beating him with sticks
on his legs and hands. He appealed to the police not to beat him but
they police pushed him into a police van, which was driven a few
kilometers. Later, in the afternoon, due to intervention by the public
representatives he was released from the van and threatened not to
disclose to anyone else about what happened to him. Showing the signs
of bruising and the swollen areas of his legs and hands Wahab told
that he lost his memory after the torture, which was unimaginable at
this old age.
Mrs. Shahida Banu (35), wife of Mohammad Shahjahan whose door was
knocked on by the police in the previous night, told that the police
blamed her family for the attack on the police as it was a suspected
robbery. The police searched for her husband and son who were not at
home at that time. The police ordered Shahida from her shop, which is
adjacent to her house, and tortured her by the order of the SP. The
police also tortured Shahida's uncle-in-law, an elderly man, for
terming the police as robbers the previous night. The police raided
Shahida's house and took away a motorbike. She was confined for hours
in the police van and was only released in the afternoon as a result
of intervention from the local government representatives.
Mr. Srimonto Chandra Roy (23), a shopkeeper, was stopped by the police
when he was driving his motorbike to go to his shop. They beat him
with sticks on the legs and back indiscriminately. Due to intervention
by the local government leaders he was released but, the police warned
that there will be further consequences if the story of torture is
shared with anyone else in future.
Mr. Selim Ahmed (17), a college student, stated that he was stopped by
the police when he was going to his private tutor's home in the
Dinajpur town. The police beat him on the legs and confined him in the
police cordon. Later, another policeman allowed him to go considering
him a student. Selim showed bruises and marks of police torture when
he was interviewed.
Mr. Sumon (27), a farmer of Duptoil village, told that the police
called all of the farmers and labourers who were at work in the
fields. They asked Sumon and others about the incident of the previous
night. As Sumon replied that he did not know anything about the
incident the policemen brutally beat him causing bruises and swollen
injuries to his legs.
Mr. Lutfor Rahman, chairman of the Forokkabad union council, described
the background and the story of torture and sexual violence by the
police against the inhabitants of the village in details. He asserted
that he witnessed the police beating people and molesting the girls
and women. He also told that the SP of Dinajpur district police and
the ASP of the Sadar Circle of Dinajpur directly participated in
torturing the people randomly, which was also testified to by the
victims before the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police of the
Rajshahi Range on the following day.
While communicated with the high police officials regarding the matter
, police officials denied to talk regarding this matter saying that
the matter is under investigation.
Human Rights activist Dipal Barua urged to the authorities of
Bangladesh to launch a thorough investigation into the matter asking
them to identify the alleged perpetrators and prosecute them for the
crime and the blatant misuse of police authority. He also said the
victims must be protected from any further attacks or harassment by
the police and any fabricated cases by the officers.
Human Rights watchdog Asian Human Right Commission (AHRC) has already
written separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment and Violence
Against Women calling for their intervention into this matter.
------------------------------------
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