ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 14 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

The Weekly

Two months after suicide, family awaits

justice as suspended cops still on the run

BRIEFS

Trafficked

Nepali girls

rescued from

India300 girls rescued

from brothels

every year.

Page 2

Slum dwellers

denied homes

as local lead-

ers demand

bribes.350 families living

in sheds as local

goons occupy

land.

Page 3

Transgenders

face assault

by male pris-

onersLack of separate

cells for transgen-

ders post Supreme

Court verdict.

Page 4

Three police offi-

cers accused of

beating an auto

driver to death are still

on the run - two months

after the victim hanged

himself.

A post mortem reporton Pradeep Ehearanna, 27,obtained by the Weekly Ob-server, details almost a dozendifferent and significant in-juries on his body.

Pradeep allegedly hangedhimself at home as he couldno longer cope with thebeatings meted out by threepolice officers at Kempe-gowda Police Station, ac-cording to his family.

His grieving father alsoclaim they paid the cops a

Rs 10,000 bribe to havePradeep released from cus-tody.

Eight weeks after hisdeath, the family is still fight-ing for answers and seniorpolice officers have failedto track down the three ac-cused, who fled the stationand have not been seensince.

Pradeep committed sui-cide on August 23, unableto bear torture meted outto him by three policemenat Kempegowdanagar PoliceStation.

The post-mortem reportobtained by the Weekly Ob-server states that he had tendeep injuries on his face,arms and legs. He was beat-en up throughout his de-tention in police custody.

Pradeep’s twin brother,Sandeep, said: “He was ar-rested by the KG Nagarpolice and was tortured bythem. Three of them wereinvolved and they are ab-sconding. We are fightingfor justice.”

The report states therewere sharp marks on hisneck and behind his earswhere he was hit. Therewere also deep bruises onhis arms, thighs and but-tocks. He was hit on hischin and behind his ears.

According to Sandeep,they are fighting a legal caseagainst the three policemenwho beat up Pradeep.

According to Pradeep’sfather, Ehearanna the policedemanded and received Rs.10,000 from his family onAugust 21 for his releaseand also demanded Rs. 5,000

from his employer.A tenant in Pradeep’s

building, Sudha said: “I havebeen living here for the pastsix years. The lady on thefirst floor accused Pradeepof trying to rape her. Shehad moved in only two daysbefore that incident whileher husband had moved in15 days back. The claimswere not true. We haveknown Pradeep and his fam-ily for long. There was amisunderstanding.”

Pradeep had apparentlygone to tell his tenant, awoman, who has now va-cated the flat, not to accu-mulate garbage on his build-ing’s terrace. Misunderstand-ing his approach when herhusband was not at home,the woman filed a complaintthat he tried to sexually as-sault her.

Sandeep said: “We havethe post-mortem reportsfrom the Victoria Hospital.The reports show that he

was tortured while in thepolice station. The threemen accused Inspector C.D.Nagaraj and two constablesPrathap Kumar and Man-junath are still absconding.”

C.D. Nagaraj has appliedfor anticipatory bail whichhe hadn’t got, and he hasbeen on the run since thetime he was suspended.

Commissioner of Police,M.N. Reddi said, “We aretrying to trace them and acouple of teams have beenassigned to trace them. Wewill double up the effort. Ihave no idea about the caseas it is being handled by theJoint Commissioner and thearea DCP.”

When questioned aboutthe absconding police offi-cers and the action of policefor the past two months,the DCP of South Zone,Lokesh Kumar, said, “Theinvestigation is still on, theabsconding police officershave not been found.”

EXCLUSIVE

Pradeep who committed suicide in August

after abuse by policemen at K.G. Nagar station

C.D. Nagaraj, the

absconding inspector.

Shruti Suresh

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 21, 20142

Three hundred trafficked

girls from Nepal, forcibly

jailed in hidden cells of

Indian brothels, are being

rescued annually.

Ghazala, the coordinator

of NGO Rescue Founda-

tion, said, “The victims are

locked up for days, starved,

beaten, burnt with cigarettes

and gang-raped till they

learn how to serve unto 25

clients a day.”

She added, “Apart from

brothels, the trafficked vic-

tims are hidden in private

hotels and beauty parlors in

the city to misguide the po-

lice.”

About 5000 to 7000 girls

from Nepal are being traf-

ficked every year to the red

light areas in Indian cities,

reveal the rescue team

records of Rescue Founda-

tion.

Radhika, 19 (name

changed), one of the res-

cued victims, said: “It be-

comes easy for the traffick-

ers to traffic women, girls

and children along the

1740-mile long open border

between India and Nepal.

Trafficking of Nepali girls

is far less risky than smug-

gling narcotics, electronic

equipments and arms to In-

dia.”

Rani, 22 (name

changed), another survival

of human trafficking, said:

“The traffickers ferried us

through the border without

any paper work or police in-

terference. We were bought

for only Rs. 5000 from

Nepal and sold in Indian

market at a much higher

rate of Rs. one lakh.”

Ghazala said: “These

girls are not allowed to leave

the brothels till they have

repaid debts that they incur

at the time of their sickness.

Most of the victims become

patients of HIV, tuberculo-

sis and often give birth to

children.”

“Our rescue team under-

goes a procedure of identi-

fying and verifying the miss-

ing girls, followed by their

rescue and rehabilitation.

The brothels and private

hotels are raided by our res-

cue team and the victims are

brought under the care of

our protective homes. They

are then taken to the hospi-

tal for age verification after

our doctors examine them.

Those suffering from any

illness are given medicines

and consultation”, she

added.

Rani said, “Most of us

suffer from sexually trans-

mitted diseases. Those who

are suffering from HIV are

given special consultation

and rich food with fruits

and milk so that we don’t

get weak, and develop re-

sistance against the infec-

tion instead.”

Ghazala said: “We train

the girls in different in-

come-generating skills such

as tailoring, embroidery,

crafts, vocational training,

drawing, etc. Most of them

come from poor families

and they need to work and

earn to lead a better life.”

Rescue Foundation pro-

vides legal aid to the rescued

survivors. “We file suits in

the court against the brothel

keepers who forced the vic-

tims to prostitution. Legal

aid includes legal counsel-

ing, training the girls for

court procedure by arrang-

ing for mock trials, and pro-

ducing them as witnesses in

courts”, said Ghazala.

Sreemoyee Chatterjee

300 trafficked Nepali victims rescued in India every yearRescue foundation says victims locked up, starved and gang-raped

Rescue site in a brothel

Women pushed into trafficking and rescued by the Rescue foundation in Mumbai.

A head constable from

Talaghattapura police

station was killed in a

road accident on NICE

road last night.

Manjunath’s body was

taken to Rajarajeshwari hos-

pital, where a lot of col-

leagues had gathered. His

relatives were also there

waiting for the post-

mortem report. They were

too upset to comment.

According to Lak-

shamma, a police constable

and Manjunath’s colleague

from the same police sta-

tion, the accident occurred

at 10.45 pm last night, and

Manjunath died on the

spot.

Talking about his last

hours, she said: “He hadn’t

been home for three days

because he was busy with

work. He was supposed to

leave the office today morn-

ing, but then asked for per-

mission to leave last night

itself, and said his kids were

missing him. So he left last

night itself.”

Lakshamma also said

that Manjunath was riding

his 2-wheeler when he was

struck by a cement carrier,

according to eye-witness re-

ports. The police have no

leads until now regarding

the identity of that vehicle.

Manjunath is survived

by his wife, three children -

a one-year-old boy and two

girls, and his mother.

Dr. Pradeep, the foren-

sic professor at Rajarajesh-

wari hospital, said that the

post mortem report will

take two days to come out,

due to the holidays.

Cop, father of 3,

dies in hit-and-run

on NICE Road

Tushar Kaushik

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 21, 2014 3

Bribe the local leaders or stay homeless

Local leaders are

demanding bribes for

free apartments allocated

by a government slum

eradication program.

While slum dwellers

struggle to find the Rs.

25,000 demanded by these

leaders for what should be

a free government apart-

ment, local goons are

growing cannabis on the

site of their former homes.

In 2009, the slum

dwellers of Ragigudda were

evacuated by the Karnataka

Slum Development Board

(KSDB) to build apart-

ments. Each family was

given a sheds as a tempo-

rary shelter and they were

promised new homes

within a year.

However, it took three

years for 1,150 families out

of the evacuated 1,500 to

move into the new apart-

ment buildings - and only

after bribing the local lead-

ers. Even now, 350 families

are still living in sheds as

they cannot afford the

amount required to bribe

the leader.

Some of these families

have moved to rented

houses for the time being.

Sudha, 28, works as a

domestic help and pays Rs.

500 every month for a one

room house. She said, “It is

small and cramped with

five members of the family

living there. The leader

doesn’t care about our situ-

ation and comes only when

authorities visit to see the

progress of the buildings.”

A 30-year-old house-

wife, Meena, one member

of the 350 families, said,

“The leader says the houses

are not ready and should be

ready in the next two or

three years. We are suffer-

ing a lot in the sheds as we

don’t have proper sanitation

facility and also have to pay

for drinking water.”

A 45-year-old domestic

help, Lakshmi, added, “If

we could pay the money to

the leader, he would have

given us our apartment.

And if we complain about

the leaders, we may not get

our houses.”

Local goons have used

the cleared space to harvest

cannabis plants. Dozens of

the plants can be easily seen

growing where the slum

dwellers once lived and

many of the area's youth

are now addicted to it,

according to concerned

locals.

A 26-year-old domestic

help, Vimala said, “My hus-

band has become addicted

to cannabis and refuses to

go to work.”

Another resident, Vas-

antha said, “My 25-year-old

son is badly addicted and

stays out of the house. He

is married but doesn’t take

care of his wife or the fam-

ily.”

For a flat on the ground

floor, these leaders demand

at least Rs. 20,000 and

prices go up to Rs. 25,000.

Another resident,

Nagamma, said, “The min-

imum amount to get a

house on the higher floors

is Rs. 5,000.”

Sumathi, another resi-

dent said, “Our leaders own

at least 20 to 30 houses

which they sell to non-resi-

dents. I recently delivered a

baby and cannot climb

stairs. I don’t have so much

money and it will be very

difficult if they give me a

house on the fifth floor.”

Balhinda, one of the

construction workers build-

ing the apartment, said,

“The buildings are sup-

posed to be five floors as

per the instructions of the

area leaders and engineers.”

Elizabeth Mani

Saheli Sen Gupta

The sheds where the slum dwellers are living now while they wait for their new homes

Cannabis plants planted by the local goons in the area.

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 21 20144

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Samreen Tungekar, Chief Sub Editor - Saheli Sen Gupta, News Editor - Soumya Chatterjee, Sub Editors - Sameer

Deshpande, Vignesh S.G., News Desk - Tushar Kaushik, Design Head - Sreemoyee Chatterjee Design Desk - Shruti Suresh, Picture Editor -

Shalini Raja, Reporters - C.L. Ramakrishnan, Elizabeth Mani, Suharika Rachavelpula

Raped and abused in Bangalore prisonTransgender hell inside Bangalore jails

No separate cells have

been provided for trans-

genders in Bangalore

prisons, in violation of a

Supreme Court verdict.

The Supreme Court ver-

dict passed on April 15,

2014 called for the provi-

sion of separate cells and

toilets for the transgen-

dered community in correc-

tion homes and prisons.

Akkai Padmashali, a

transgender rights activist,

said: “Police don’t respect

our privacy. We are ran-

domly picked up from pub-

lic places, beaten up,

sexually harassed and com-

pelled to stay with the male

prisoners who often molest

and abuse us.”

Transgendered people

are picked up by police on

false allegations of theft,

robbery and extortion from

the streets of Bangalore

and are forced to share cells

with other male convicts in

jail, reveal the records of

Sangama, an organization

dedicated to helping minor-

ity groups.

Ruksan (name changed),

a transgender who was

picked up from Majestic

bus depot on false charges

of theft, was kept in a cell

with four other male con-

victs. She said: “I was sexu-

ally tortured throughout the

night by the male inmates.

They abused me and did

not allow me to eat and

drink. When I complained

to the inspector, he bla-

tantly said that I deserved

it.”

Roshni (name changed),

another transgender, said:

“Police often charge fines

or ask for bribes for no rea-

son. When we refuse to pay,

they charge us with false al-

legations of theft and ha-

rassing the public and keep

us with male convicts in the

same cell.”

Dilfaraz, the coordinator

of Samara, an NGO work-

ing for the rights of trans-

gender and sexual

minorities, said: “Transgen-

ders are kidnapped, raped,

molested and cruelly beaten

up just because they are an

exception to the natural

order of sexual identity.

This is not a crime. Yet,

they are punished and ha-

rassed by both police and

male inmates in the prison.

No legal actions are taken

against the offenders.”

Sana, a transgender

working as a program asso-

ciate in Equation, a

tourism-based research or-

ganization, said: “Recently,

one of my fellow protestors

was raped by the police in a

Madhya Pradesh prison.

There have been instances

when the police allowed the

male convicts to torture the

transgenders, both mentally

and physically. Despite this,

it is unfortunate that Kar-

nataka Government has not

yet implemented the

Supreme Court verdict.”

Sonica, a transgender

working as a counselor in

Family Planning Associa-

tion, said: “We have been

arranging for long term

protests in demand for sep-

arate cells and toilets in

prisons as well as public

places because we are not

treated as human beings by

the society. We had a con-

sultation in August regard-

ing this issue. People never

accept the ‘third gender’

community as a part of this

society.”

She added: “The gov-

ernment hasn’t paid any

heed to our voices yet. We

are being humiliated and

molested not only in public

but also in police custody.”

Padmashali said: “Ba-

nashankari Police Station

arrested 35 transgender ac-

tivists who were demon-

strating against the social

stigma and were imprisoned

with male criminals a few

years back. They were mer-

cilessly beaten up and sexu-

ally harassed by the police

as well as the male con-

victs.”

Jayasimha, DIG of

Parappana Agrahara Prison,

Bangalore, when asked

about the implementation

of separate cell and toilet

allocation for the transgen-

ders in prison, said: “Who

the hell are you to ask me

this, Madam? I am not in a

position to answer you”.

Nagaraja, a police con-

stable at the Upparpet Po-

lice Station, confirmed that

there are no separate cells

for transgenders in the sta-

tion.

Sreemoyee Chatterjee

Akkai Padmashali, renowned transgender activist, at a protest campaign

Akkai Padmashali with seven other transgender activists