Dalit women's collective calls for end of caste-based violence
New Delhi, June 22 : A Dalit women's collective, leading their side event for the first time at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Thursday, voiced their concern over increasing violence and atrocities against women and called for "structural upheaval" to combat the situation, a statement said.
A report "Voices against Caste Impunity: Narratives of Dalit women in India", charting caste-based violence and the struggles that survivors are made to face for justice, was also released at the UNHRC's 38th session.
"Dalit women are facing various kinds of extremely brutal violence and a culture of collusion between different authorities to protect perpetrators of crimes against Dalit women," it said.
It also mentioned that the SC/ST commissions and the National Commission for Women (NCW) may not be able to fully grasp and address gendered caste issues.
A panel constituting UN member on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination committee Rita Isazk-Ndiaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Dubravka Aimonovi, Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover and the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch General Secretary Asha Kotwal were present at the event.
According to the speakers, violence against Dalit women is linked with economic deprivation, political disenfranchisement, barriers to justice and social indignities.
"Dalit woman narrative is not victimhood, we want to make it known to the world that our fight is against those who spread venom and bias which obstruct our right to life," said Kotwal.
The panellists also pitched for strong support by a global solidarity movement and seek stronger actions from within the UN and campaigns from international human rights organisations.
"Many Dalit victims and their families in India are not informed of their rights and atrocities committed against them are crimes. Institutionalised impunity for crimes committed against Dalit women in India must be addressed. The police's reluctance and deliberate omissions to register complaints and arrest perpetrators must be questioned," Grover said.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
