Complaint should be considered as a First Information Report (FIR).
From: PVCHR ED <pvchr.india@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 21, 2013 at 10:29 PM
Subject: Complaint should be considered as a First Information Report (FIR).
To: Chief Justice of SC <supremecourt@nic.in>
To,
Honorable Chief Justice,
Supreme Court of India.
Dear Sir,
Greetings from PVCHR.
There are several problems in the Criminal Justice System in India. Primarily, every victim faces two problems; (i) inability to file a First Information Report (FIR), (ii) credibility of the investigation. Despite the directions of the Honorable Supreme Court to file FIR in all the cases, police refuses to comply it, thereby proving a point about the level of impunity the force enjoys.
We believe that an alternate proposal must be put forward to ensure that the police file an FIR in every case. PVCHR proposes that in the event of a refusal by the police to file an FIR the person can go to the office of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to make the complaint. The CJM should be empowered to receive the complaint both at the office and at the residence. In case of wrongful confinement and custodial torture, the complaint can be made by victims or by anyone on behalf of the victim. All these complaints should be noted in a Register, followed by directions of the CJM to district police authority for necessary action within 24 hours and report back. This complaint should be considered as a First Information Report (FIR). The very next day that complaint should be referred to the concerned Judicial Magistrate for necessary action. Complaints can also be made through email, fax and sms.
Registration of a case in the judicial diary will automatically force the police to follow procedure and establish accountability.
With kindest regards,
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Secretary General
PVCHR
SA 4/2 A, Daulatpur, Varnasi-221002
UP, India
उत्तर-प्रदेश के अलीगढ़ जिले में पुलिस द्वारा महिलाओं और बच्चों के ऊपर लाठीचार्ज कर मानवाधिकार का उल्लघन करने पर कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में
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Justice delay is justice denied for women: Shruti Nagvanshi
We are living in such a society today in India where women are not in a position to oppose any act of violence, and misbehavior with her. She might be educated or may be living in a village the situation is the same. India's traditional patriarchal system puts women at the lowest ebb of the community, whatever be the society but the dalit, minority and poor women are further pushed to the wall under the caste system and poverty.
Dalit, minority and poor women are subjected to discrepancies on the basis of the religion, caste, poverty by the patriarchal and caste based society. Women being subjected to violence, rape and inhuman behavior are a matter of shame for any society however progressive the society might be. But in India such attitude towards the dalit, minority and poor women is not only common and is at extreme. Even today the age old myth of a women becoming Dyan (witch) is followed and women are killed under this belief. The law is unable to act in such cases and, even does not lodge reports, forget action. If women raise a voice against such practice not only the women but her entire family and her advocates have to bear the brunt and is ostracized by the entire society/village. Atrocity upon women and children continues without even thinking what circumstances they face and what mental torture they have to bear or what kind of security they need. The society instead of helping the victim of such violence keeps mum and thereby extends a quiet support to the offenders. Similarly the ones who work for victim women, the human rights defenders are also attacked so that they may retract their support. By all means the women are forced to step back if she is resisting the violence and torture.
Women who manage to reach police station to lodge complaint and not behaved with properly and they are made to sit for hours together with the family before anyone listens to them. And later on the women is pressurized to take back her complaint. There have been many cases of custodial rape with women and girls child who went to lodge report and for protection with police. Women are blamed for any act of violence with them. The worst is those women victims are made to sit with her offender inside police station, which is another way of psychological torturing her. Presence of the offender beside gives shocks to mind and thoughts of that act often give pain to the victim, which is difficult to even understand.
The women and her family are made to feel down but the offender is not even once made to realize what offence he has done. Investigation in cases are started late hence the criminals get enough time to remove evidences and thereby the case becomes weak. Even the women officers are no less than their male counterparts and behave the same way with women victims as the male officers do. The support to women victim depends upon how much she can pay as bribe to the investigating officer.
Usually justice comes delayed as 'justice delay is justice denied' under the present judicial system. The judiciary itself has less number of women judges. But the court's utmost delayed process in cases of atrocity with women is point to be noted. When justice is delayed often women victim are forced to make out of the court settlement on the conditions proposed by the offender itself. Delay in judgement given the entire benefit to the criminals. In many cases it has been seen that the lawyer appointed to fight the case for victim join hands with offender and delays the perusal of the case.
In the courtrooms the attitude of the lawyers towards cases of women rights is traditional based on patriarchy and they are themselves unaware about the rules that protect a woman from violence and make the case complicated.
Not even the national and state women commissions are taking steps that can help women positively. Women commission itself is governed with patriarchal mind set. The selection of women commission office bearers is totally political and only those women who are close to the ruling party are appointed here, which in unscientific and irrational. These appointed members lack even the basic of women rights which is reflected in the decisions they take. Of the cases brought before the women commission very less are taken up by the commission.
As far as social security and development is concerned dalit,t tribal and minority women have little access and are subjected to dual atrocity thereby. Those bodies that are responsible for women's' health services are engaged in money making from these women only and ignore their needs. At times women have lost their lives due to such an attitude.
A mother dies during child birth in India every eight minutes. For every maternal death in India, 20 more women suffer from lifelong health impairments that result from complications during their pregnancies. Worldwide an estimated five hundred thousand woman die as a result of pregnancy each year. Approximately one quarter of all pregnancy and delivery related maternal deaths worldwide occur in India. In Uttar Pradesh (Indian State), caste discrimination is an ingrained part of the medical system, doctors and activists say.
"Upper-caste health workers refuse to visit Dalit communities," said Lenin Raghuvanshi, a rights activist. "Because of that pregnant Dalit women do not get (nutritional) supplements and the majority of them are anemic."
It's not just mothers who died. Babies were stillborn and few of them were premature. Many of these children who survived, many are at risk without their mothers to take care of them.
Why Do Mother's Die:
According to WHO,the major complications that account for 80% of all maternal deaths are:
• Severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth)
• Infections (usually after childbirth)
• High blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia)
• Unsafe abortion.
There are 3 major reasons/delays for which even a well-educated mother is succumbed to death during child birth. If taken care of below delays caused, 90% of deaths can be avoided.
The First Delay: Pregnant mothers or their families often fail to recognize and seek medical help quickly enough, when a pregnancy related complication happens. This is due to illiteracy, not just in the family but also in the community that does not have adequate education or access to the right information necessary to spot the early warning signs. Women might also use ineffective home remedies due to traditional myths.
The Second Delay: Many mothers die at home or on their way to hospital due to lack of preparedness for any complication, lack of access to transportation or because they were referred from one hospital to another. The incidents of mothers dying because they cannot get to the right hospital at the right time is high because more than half of the child births in India still happen at home, and in most cases a skilled attendant or midwife is not available.
The Third Delay: Even if a mother gets to a hospital in time, there is no guarantee that her life is safe. The third delay happens when the right medical facilities, trained professionals, medicines and other critical inputs like blood are not available.The health care service system in India consists of three tiers. The facilities available, the expertise level of health care workers and quality of care differs widely at each level because of the lack of standards. For example, according to the National Family Health Survey II, less than 30 % community health centers had an obstetrician available; less than 10 % had an anesthetist.
Many rural and low income urban families first go to either a private nursing home or a primary health care facility. These centers are not equipped to handle complications that arise during a delivery. Some of them do not have access to basic services like a blood bank. The poorly trained medical staffs take a long time to recognize complications that occur during labour or immediately after birth.[i]
The need is that preventive steps from the government come. The government should identify the problem and find solution instead of waiting for accidents/incidents. The steps should be made in collaboration with social organizations and should be strong enough to support women.
By: Shruti Nagvanshi,Founder of Savitri Bai Phule Women Forum
By: Shruti Nagvanshi,Founder of Savitri Bai Phule Women Forum
एक सभ्य और प्रगतिशील समाज के लिये इससे बुरा दुर्घटना और कुछ नही हो सकता
हम ऐसे समाज में रह रहे है जहाँ महिलाये अपने प्रति हो रहे किसी भी प्रकार के दुर्व्यवहार, हिंसा का विरोध करने की स्थिति में नही है फिर चाहे वे शिक्षित हो या अशिक्षित शहर में रह रही हो या गाँव में | यों तो भारत की प्राचीनतम संविधान मनुस्मृति के अनुसार सभी जाति की महिलाओं की स्थिति निम्न दर्जे की है किन्तु जातिवादी वर्ण –व्यवस्था में दलित, अल्पसंख्यक एवं गरीब महिलाओ की स्थितियां कंही अधिक बदत्तर है | दलित,अल्पसंख्यक ,एवं गरीब महिलाये पितृसत्ता, गरीबी, व जातीय व धार्मिक भिन्नता के आधारों पर भेदभावपूर्ण रवैये के कारण कहीं अधिक यातना और हिंसा की शिकार हो रही है | किसी भी जाति या वर्ग की महिला के साथ हिंसा, बलात्कार या अमानवीय व्यवहार की दुर्घटना हो ,एक सभ्य और प्रगतिशील समाज के लिये इससे बुरा दुर्घटना और कुछ नही हो सकता | लेकिन भारत में दलित, अल्पसंख्यक और निम्न आय वर्ग की महिलाओं के साथ इस प्रकार की घटनाओं की प्रक्रति व प्रवित्ति बहुत भयानक रूप में दिखाई देता है |आज भी आदिम दास युग की भाति महिलाओं को डायन करार देकर उन पर हिंसा व जान से मार देने की लगातार सामने आ रही है,लेकिन इन की रिपोर्ट नही दर्ज की जा रही है | महिला यदि बहुत हिम्मत कर विरोध की आवाज उठाती भी है तो न सिर्फ महिला को सामाजिक बहिष्कार दंश झेलना पड़ता है बल्कि महिला के पुरे परिवार, बिरादरी, को सामाजिक बहिष्कार का दंश झेलना पड़ता है | महिलाओ या बच्चियो पर हिंसा की घटनाओं में यह चिंता किये बिना कि वे किस प्रकार की मानसिक यातना से जूझ रही है , उन्हें किस प्रकार की सुरक्षा या मदद की आवश्यकता है | बल्कि पूरा समाज हो रही हिंसा पर चुप्पी बनाये रखने कोई विरोध न करने का दबाव डाल कर हिंसा को ही बढ़ावा देता है | ऐसे में महिला के साथ खड़े ,सहयोग दे रहे महिला अधिकारों के पैरोकारो पर भी हमले किये जाते है जिससे वे किसी प्रकार का सहयोग न दें | हर तरह से महिला को अपने कदम पीछे खीचने को बाध्य किया जाता है |
पुलिस थाने शिकायत दर्ज कराने पहुची महिलाओ से अपराधियों की तरह व्यवहार किया जाता है रिपोर्ट लिखवाने गयी महिलाओ को परिवार सहित घंटो थाने में बैठा कर हतोत्साहित किया जाता है फिर सुलह करने का दबाव बनाया जाता है | यहाँ तक थानों में रिपोर्ट दर्ज कराने गयी महिलाओं और बच्चियों के साथ संरक्षण में बलात्कार की घटनाये बहुतायत है | महिला के साथ घटी दुर्घटना की जिम्मेदारी महिला पर ही दी जाती है | थाने में पीड़ित महिला को उत्पीडक के साथ ही रखा जाना आम बात है जबकि इससे महिला बार –बार उत्पीडित हो रही होती है | उत्पीडक की उपस्थिति में भयानक हादसा बार –बार मन - मष्तिष्क में उभरता है जिसके सन्दर्भ में कोई आंकलन नही किया जा सकता है |
महिला और उसके परिवार को शर्मिंदा किये जाने की प्रवित्ति कंही गहरी है जबकि उत्पीडक को कानून तोड़ने का बोध भी नही कराया जाता | जानबूझ कर पुलिस या किसी जांचकर्ता द्वारा हिंसा की घटनाओ में देरी से जाँच शुरु की जाती है, इस बीच साक्ष्य मिटाने पूरा अवसर अपराधियो को मिल जाता है | महिला अधिकारीगण और पुलिसकर्मी भी पुरुषसत्तात्मक समाज की ही पोषक है वे पीड़ित महिलाओ से पुरुष पुलिसकर्मीओ की तरह ही व्यवहार करतीं है | पीड़ित महिला का समर्थन इस बात पर निर्भर करता है कि वे जांचकर्ता को कितना सुविधा शुल्क दे सकते है |
यों तो न्यायिक प्रणाली में सभी प्रकार की घटनाओं में देर से फैसले आने की व्यापक समस्या है, न्यायालय स्वयं न्यायधिशो विशेषकर महिला न्यायधिशो एवं संसाधनो के अभाव के संकट से ग्रस्त है | लेकिन महिलाओं के प्रति हिंसा की दुर्घटनाओ में न्याय व्यवस्था कही ज्यादा सुस्त और असंवेदनशील तरीके का रुख अपनाता है | न्याय में देरी , लम्बी तारीखों से निराश पीड़ित महिलायें न्यायालय के बाहर उत्पीडक की शर्तो पर सुलह करने को बाध्य है | फैसले हो रही देरी का पूरा –पूरा फायदा उत्पीडक पक्ष उठता है | हिंसा की शिकार महिलाओं के वकील भी उत्पीडक पक्ष के साथ मिलकर केश की पैरवी में ढीला ढाला रुख अपनाते है |
न्यायालय में महिला अधिकारों के पैरोकार प्रतिनिधि वकीलों का रवैया आज भी परम्परावादी है, वे स्वयं महिलाओं के हिंसा से बचाव के नये कानूनों अनभिज्ञ है , जिससे वे आज भी सिविल कानून में केश दर्ज कराने के बजाय पेचीदे धाराओ में दर्ज कर न्यायिक प्रक्रियाओं और कठिन बना देते है |
राष्ट्रीय और राज्य महिला आयोग द्वारा भी महिला अधिकारों के संरक्षण की दिशा में विशेष सार्थक और सतत प्रयास नही किये जा रहे हैं | महिला आयोग स्वयं पितृस्तात्म्क विचारों से पीड़ित है महिला आयोग के सदस्यों की चयन प्रक्रिया पूण: अव्यवहारिक व अवैज्ञानिक है, केंद्र या राज्य की सत्ताधारी पार्टियों की प्रतिनिधि महिलाएं ही आयोग की सदस्यों में चुनाव किया जाता है | इन सम्मानित सदस्यों के पास महिला अधिकारों की बुनियादी दृष्टिकोण का आभाव है, जो उनके द्वारा लिये गये निर्णयों प्रयासों में स्पष्ट परिलक्षित होता दिखाई देता है | जो मामले महिला आयोग के संज्ञान लाये जाते है उनमें बहुत कम मामलों में ही आयोग पहल कर पाता है |
सामाजिक सुरक्षा और विकास की योजनाओ में भी दलित, अल्पसंख्यक व गरीब महिलाओ की पहुँच समता और समावेश के मूल्यों पर आधारित नहीं होने के कारण वे प्रत्यक्ष अप्रत्यक्ष दोनों तरह से हिंसा का शिकार हो रहीं है | महिला स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा के लिये जिम्मेदार सरकारी संस्थाओ में इन महिलाओं से भेदभावपूर्ण, उपेक्षात्मक कई बार हिंसक व्यवहार,अवैध धन उगाही और सुविधा शुल्क न दे पाने के कारण महिलाओं को अपनी जान तक गंवाना पड़ रहा है
आवश्यकता इस बात कि है की सरकारें महिला हिंसा की वीभत्स घटनाओं के इंतजार के पहले समस्याओ एवं परिस्थितियों की पहचान कर नीतियां, कानून,व योजनायें बनाये |महिला हिंसा से बचाव व सुरक्षा के लिए ठोस व्यवहारिक प्रयासों में सामुदायिक सहभागिता के दृष्टी से सामाजिक क्षेत्र में कार्यरत संस्थाओ के प्रतिनिधिओ को शामिल करते हुये सतत निगरानी एवं मूल्यांकन किया जाना चाहिये|
Article by Shruti Nagvanshi,Savitri Bai Phule Women Form
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