'I was raped by CPM men, my two girls raped and abducted’ Ind Exp Reports
aryakrishnan ramakrishnan
Remember Prakash Karat defending CPIM, by rejecting the allegation of
double speak ("Double-Speak" Charge: Maligning The CPI (M)
Prakash Karat, People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party
of India (Marxist), Vol. XXXI, No. 04, January 28, 2007
http://pd.cpim.org/2007/0128/01282007_prakash.htm).
Aryan
I was raped by CPM men, my two girls raped and abducted'
Ravik Bhattacharya, Posted online: Friday, November 16, 2007
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/239674.html
First Nandigram Gangrape Confirmed: Case filed after medical report,
victim tells Express chilling story of night of Nov 6
Nandigram, November 15: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee says that what CPM cadres did in Nandigram is "morally
and legally justifiable." His comrades in New Delhi today argued that
Nandigram is a "state subject" unlike the Gujarat rapes and murders of
2002 and, therefore, could not be discussed in Parliament.
Perhaps, the comrades should listen to Sabina Begum. For, hers is the
first officially confirmed case of gangrape allegedly by armed CPM
cadres on November 6, during their "Operation Recapture" in Nandigram.
Her two daughters went missing soon after the gangrape that night. In
chilling testimony to The Indian Express, Sabina has said that after
she was raped, she saw her daughters, Fatima, 16, and Nasreen, 14,
raped as well and then abducted by CPM cadres. All the three names
have been changed to protect their identities.
This gruesome incident, according to the police complaint, occurred in
Satengabari, one of the villages that bore the brunt of the CPM's
terror. When The Indian Express visited the village yesterday, it
found 160 of the 240 houses either burnt or badly damaged. Most of the
residents are huddled in the Brojomohan school relief camp.
"We have initiated a case of rape and I cannot say anything more,"
said S S Panda, Superintendent of Police, East Midnapore. "Doctors
have confirmed that Sabina was raped. I personally took her statement
yesterday at the Tamluk sub-divisional hospital. We have registered a
case of gangrape against the accused. She has given us names in her
statement but I cannot disclose the names right now. We have also
attached the case of her two missing daughters with the gangrape
case," Champak Chowdhury, Officer-in-Charge of Nandigram police
station, told The Indian Express.
"We have had detailed tests done of the patient named Sabina by a
gynaecologist. Later, some specimens were sent to the laboratory. Rape
has been confirmed," said S Patra, Superintendent of the Tamluk
Sub-Divisional hospital.
The Indian Express visited Sabina who is admitted in the "female ward"
of the hospital and met her traumatised family members at the relief
camp.
"At around 8 that evening, a group of youths knocked at my door and my
mother-in-law opened it. Mir Bachchu Sheikh and Mir Kalu, two CPM men
whom I knew in the village along with several others, barged in. I
tried to run away with my two daughters but was caught in the
backyard," Sabina told The Indian Express.
'They dragged me and my daughters near the field. I was raped by eight
people including Bachchu and Kalu. I also saw my two daughters being
raped by the youths. It continued throughout the night. Then they took
my daughters away, dumping me inside the house," said Sabina, in
tears.
Sabina says she was locked inside the house for two days. The third
night, she managed to escape and came to the Nandigram block hospital
where she was admitted. She was later referred to Tamluk
sub-divisional hospital.
Meanwhile, Sabina's family is looking for the two missing daughters.
"We went to the police and lodged a missing complaint despite threats
by CPM cadres. We do not even know if they are alive," said Sheikh
Motleb, Sabina's elder brother and neighbour.