Letter to NCPCR on rape of minor in Sarguja

On the 6th of July, 2011, in an alleged encounter, a minor girl was raped and shot dead in Sarguja District, Chhattisgarh. Villagers of Karcha, where the incident occurred, were unanimous in their opinion that Meena Xalxo, 15, was not a Naxalite. Further, there was absolutely no evidence of an encounter – no shells, blood stains or physical signs of an exchange of fire. However, post-mortem results revealed that Meena had been shot twice from a distance of 50 meters.

Below is a letter to Dr. Shanta Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), drawing her attention to Meena’s case and urging her to initiate an immediate inquiry into the matter.

To,
Dr Shanta Sinha,
Chairperson,
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR),
Delhi

11th July 2011

Sub: Report of rape and encounter death of minor in Surguja, Chhattisgarh

Dear Dr Shantha Sinha,

On behalf of Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS), we wish to draw your immediate attention to reports about the gang-rape rape and murder of a minor girl last week in Sarguja district, Chhattisgarh, in an alleged encounter with Maoists.

We are enclosing the said reports and we strongly urge you to initiate immediate inquiry and action in this matter.

We would also like to bring to your notice that this is only one of several incidents of the violation of rights of minors that have been reported from Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand. In the past we have brought before you cases of such violations in Jharkhand and Orissa. In some the Commission has taken quick action and some of the young victims have been spared further harm. But there are sufficient indications that these may be just the tip of the ice berg.

We urge that along with taking quick action in this specific case, NCPCR also takes steps to address the issues arising from militarization of parts of these three states, the impunity with which the police and security forces are behaving in these areas, and its devastating impact on the lives of the young, especially the young girls.

Yours,

Indira Chakravarthi, Rinchin, Kalpana Mehta
(for WSS)
THREE ENCLOSURES BELOW

ENCLOSURES:

1.  Here is the story from today’s Hindu
Probe girl’s encounter, says Congress
Aman Sethi

2.  video report in Sahara Samay on the same subject:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1962518780726&comments

3.  ये कांगो हैं, छत्तीसगढ़ नहीं
a blog post by आवेश तिवारी

The letter to NCPCR on this issue can be downloaded from here.