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Protest over women’s safety justice in Ranchi
Demonstrators were carrying placards with messages like ‘Activist in Jail, Rapist on Bail Not At All Accepted’, ‘Zero Tolerance for Rapist’, and ‘We Demand Justice for Unnao Survivors’.
A section of women’s organisations in Jharkhand staged a demonstration on Monday against the Delhi high court’s order granting bail to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Sengar in the Unnao rape case.
The organisations included Adivasi Women’s Network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, All India Students Association (AISA), All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), and others.
Demonstrators were carrying placards with messages like ‘Activist in Jail, Rapist on Bail Not At All Accepted’, ‘Zero Tolerance for Rapist’, and ‘We Demand Justice for Unnao Survivors’.
On December 23, the Delhi high court put Sengar’s jail sentence on hold while his appeal was pending, saying that he had already spent seven years and five months in prison, and granted him conditional bail.
However, the Supreme Court stayed the order on Monday.
“The Delhi high court’s decision to grant bail to Kuldeep Sengar has deeply hurt women and shattered their faith in the judiciary. Since the BJP government has come to power, incidents of exploitation and rape of women have increased. Furthermore, the premature release of rapists, garlanding them with flowers, and the brutal and violent treatment of victims, along with the planned murders of their families and lawyers, are highly reprehensible,” said one of the agitating women, Elina Horo.
Another agitator, Nandita Bhattacharya, echoed Horo, alleging that the BJP protects criminals and forces daughters to struggle.
She cited the release of Ram Rahim, Asaram, and the rapists of Bilkis Bano from jail as examples. She said that the BJP was “trying to impose the Manusmriti by using the judiciary”.
“The BJP consistently protects criminals and forces daughters to struggle and become victims of murder at the hands of these criminals. We have clear examples of this: Ram Rahim, Asaram, the rapists of Bilkis Bano, the Hathras rapists—all are out. These daughters will no longer remain silent; they will end this patriarchal and Manuvadi (caste-based) ideology of the government. From the beginning of this year to the end, the high courts have consistently delivered anti-women judgments. This attitude of the courts stems from the release of Bilkis Bano’s rapists. If every victim has to rely on the Supreme Court for justice, then for whom are the other courts working? The BJP government is trying to impose Manusmriti (ancient Hindu laws) by using the judiciary,” Bhattacharya said.
When informed that the Supreme Court had stayed the high court’s bail order, Horo welcomed the decision but said it was not a complete solution.
“How many victims have the capacity to approach the Supreme Court for justice? We have observed that those who commit crimes against women often get relief from High Courts, and very few victims have the means to challenge such orders before the apex court,” she said.
In response to the agitation, BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said the matter should not be politicised.
“The matter is being politicised on the behest of the Gandhi family, as the case of heinous crime is subjudice before the court and the CBI is already in action,” Shahdeo said.
Shahdeo also pointed fingers at the organisations that participated in the protest. “The organisations which participated in the protest are close to the Hemant Soren government, during whose six-year rule more than 8,000 cases of rape have been reported, and convictions have not even reached double figures,” Shahdeo said.
