By Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI: The fiancee of an Army officer – a Major in the Sikh regiment – was illegally detained, physically assaulted, and sexually harassed in Bhuvaneshwar in Odisha two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a function in the same city that major steps had been taken for empowerment of women in the first 100 days of his third NDA government. The BJP is in power in Odisha.
The woman approached the police to file a complaint after a group of individuals had stopped their car and instigated a confrontation in the early hours of September 15. However, what she encountered from the police was deeply terrifying.
In her complaint to the Odisha Police’s Crime Branch, the woman—a lawyer and restaurateur—described how, after escaping from the group that had waylaid them, she and her fiancé went to the police station to seek help. Instead of registering their complaint, however, the police subjected her to verbal abuse.
Speaking to media persons at AIIMS-Bhuvaneshwar, she explained that when a female officer at the reception refused to file the complaint, claiming that an FIR couldn’t be registered at night, she asserted her rights as a lawyer and pointed out that the law requires immediate registration of such complaints. It was at this moment that her ordeal began. Several female officers dragged her by the hair, and when she resisted, they restrained her by tying her hands and feet before throwing her into a lock-up. Her fiancé, an Army officer, was also taken into custody when he protested the police’s actions.
She alleged that when the Inspector In-Charge (IIC), a male, came around 6 am, he removed her inner and tried to kick her breasts repeatedly. He allegedly removed her pants and flashed at her.
While five police officers of the Bharatpur police station where the woman was subjected to torture and sexual harassment have been suspended, the incident suggests a deeper malaise in society. The behaviour of the police force, composed of both men and women, reflects the falling moral standards and values that contribute to the mistreatment of women in our society. This incident highlights a broader moral crisis that affects how women are treated in our communities. The police officers were suspended only after retired Army officers in Bhuvaneshwar demonstrated outside Odisha’s Director General of Police’s office.
This is not an isolated incident. Recently, half a dozen youths beat up two Army officers of the Mho cantonment in Madhya Pradesh and allegedly raped their two women friends. The officers and their female friends were on a picnic outside the cantonment area. A female medico in a Kolkata hospital was gang-raped and murdered. A female nurse in Uttarakhand was also gang-raped and killed a few weeks ago. Two minor girls in a school in Badlapur in Maharashtra were sexually assaulted by a cleaning staff.
What transpired in the police station in Odisha is particularly alarming. People turn to the police for protection, and when a woman is unsafe in a police station, where can she seek refuge from criminals? This raises crucial questions for those in government. Did the woman in this incident commit a crime by insisting that her complaint be registered that night, only to face assault, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse, while her fiancé was also detained?
Many of the most sensitive sexual assault cases are, unfortunately, emerging from BJP-ruled states. While the BJP took a strong stance on the gangrape and murder case in Kolkata, its leaders remain notably silent on similar incidents occurring in states under their governance. This discrepancy suggests that crimes against women are being politicized, with the party’s response often based on political considerations rather than a genuine commitment to justice and safety for all women.
Society bears significant responsibility for the prevalence of such crimes. Notably, in August 2022, 11 convicts from the gangrape case involving Bilkis Bano were publicly celebrated by some BJP leaders in Gujarat. This act went unchallenged by the National Commission for Women, the Gujarat State Women’s Commission, or the Human Rights Commission. Their silence raises important questions: Why didn’t political parties or their women’s departments organize rallies or protests against this celebration? The apparent inaction from the BJP’s women’s department may stem from the fact that the victim was a Muslim. This collective silence within society only emboldens criminals to commit acts of violence against women in various settings, including hospitals, schools, and police stations, regardless of caste or creed.
This reminds one of the famous quote of German pastor Martin Niemoller who said, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, And I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me- And then there was no one left to speak for me.”
The Protestant pastor was initially an early supporter of the Nazis when Adolf Hitler launched his genocidal campaign against German Jews. However, he eventually turned against Hitler and was imprisoned for seven years in concentration camps, despite his fervent nationalism. It was during this time that he made his poignant remarks.
A similar dynamic seems to be unfolding in India today. We must learn from the atrocities of Nazi Germany and actively speak out against violence targeting women, minorities, Dalits, and other vulnerable groups. Silence in the face of injustice only perpetuates suffering and emboldens those who commit such acts. Now is the time for collective action and solidarity.
