Threats and Physical Assault Against Ms. Sunita Devi, a Woman Human Rights Defender from India
16 February 2011 9:00 pm

FORUM-ASIA received information on the brutal attack and threats by local money lenders against Ms. Sunita Devi, a Dalit widow and woman human rights defender from Bihar. Ms. Sunita Devi was threatened and physically assaulted by local money lenders in her community. It is alleged that the attack was prompted because of her involvement in a women’s self-help group (SHG), Durga Parivartan Bachat Samooh.

 

Asian Defender Alert

 

 

 

 

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development (FORUM-ASIA) received information on the brutal attack and
threats by local money lenders against Ms. Sunita Devi, a Dalit widow and woman
human rights defender from Bihar.

FORUM-ASIA received information
that Ms. Sunita Devi was threatened and physically assaulted by local money
lenders in her community. It is alleged that the attack was prompted because of
her involvement in a women’s self-help group (SHG), Durga Parivartan Bachat
Samooh.

On 16 January 2011, as the women
members of the SHG were arriving for a meeting in front of Ms. Devi’s house,
the assailants, Mr. Santlal Sinh and Mr. Surendra Sinh , walked up to Ms. Devi
and dragged her by her sari. They started beating hear and snatching her ear
ornaments. They also shouted demeaning and abusive language, making caste-based
slurs to Ms. Devi. The other women intervened and were able to stop the
attackers from inflicting further harm.

Ms. Devi immediately filed a
first information report (FIR) at the local police station against her attackers.
However, she and her family are still receiving threats. Because of these
threats, Ms. Sunita Devi and her family have left their home and are seeking
refuge in an undisclosed location.

Ms. Devi also lost her primary
means of earning a living because of this case. Before this incident, she used
to wash laundry for her neighbors. However, after the attack and her filing a
the complaint, people from her community who belong to the same caste as the
attackers have stopped sending her their laundry.

Moreover, the family of Ms.
Girija Devi, the woman who signed as witness on the complaint, is now facing
harassment from other people in the community belonging to the same caste as
the attackers. Ms. Girija Devi’s husband owns a tea shop located on a piece of
land owned by a person belonging to the same caste as the attackers. After the
attack, the land owner asked Ms. Girija Devi’s husband to remove his tea shop
from his land.

The SHG has successfully helped
Dalit women save money and make them less dependent on money lenders. These
money lenders have threatened and attacked women in the past to stop them from
participating in the SHG.

Durga Parivartan Bachat Samooh
was organised to end the dependency of local women
on the usurious system of the money lenders. The SHG groups 19 women who save
20 rupees every month enabling them to make small savings and avail of
low-interest credit from the pooled savings.

It is alleged that the money
lenders have threatened members of the group in the past, saying that they
should stop their SHG activities and leave Durga Parivartan Bachat Samooh.
Prior to the attack on Ms. Devi, the local money lenders have beaten up two
women because of their involvement in the SHG. These women did not file
complaints because they were afraid of reprisals from their assailants, who
were also the same persons who attacked Ms. Sunita Devi.

Ms. Devi’s organization,
Parivartan Kendra has already taken steps to report this incident to the Indian
authorities. The organization has faxed reports to the Director-General (DG) of
Police, the Inspector-General (IG), the Bihar State Human Rights Commission,
the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women, and
the National Commission on Scheduled Castes and Tribes, the Superintendant of
the Police, the Bihar Maha Dalit Ayog and the Chief Minister of Bihar
demanding to take prompt action to arrest the accused and to guarantee the
safety of Ms. Sunita Devi. As of this writing, the police and the other Indian
authorities have not taken any action.

Ms. Sunita Devi is a woman human
rights defender who is being attacked by non-state actors for her work of
helping women in her community live a life of dignity, free from debt bondage
from money lenders. Through her work, she is helping the women in her community
realize their right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their
families.

FORUM-ASIA therefore believes
that Ms. Sunita Devi, as a woman human rights defender, should be accorded
protection by the government of India, as mandated under the UN Declaration on
Human Rights Defenders. Under Article 9(1) of the Declaration, Ms. Devi has the
right to benefit from an effective remedy and to be protected from any form of
violation of her rights as a woman human rights defender. Under Article 9(5),
the government of India is obliged to “conduct a prompt and impartial
investigation or ensure that an inquiry takes place whenever there is
reasonable ground to believe that a violation of human rights and fundamental
freedoms has occurred in any territory under its jurisdiction.”

Suggested action:

Please write letters to the
following authorities and to express your deep concern for the safety and
security of Ms. Sunita Devi and her family. Please include the demand that
immediate steps are to be undertaken to guarantee the safety of Ms. Sunita Devi
and her family and that an investigation should be made into her case.
Moreover, the government of India should take immediate action and address
cases of impunity against all human right defenders and women human rights
defenders in India.

 

 

Please send your letters to:

Chief Minister of Bihar

Shri Nitish Kumar

1, Anne
Marg, Patna

Bihar,
India

Pin 800
001

Tel No. +91 612 2215784, 612 2215886.

Email: [email protected]

 

Governor
of Bihar

Shri
Devanand Konwar

Governor
House,

B.G.Camp,

Patna –
800 022

Bihar,
India

Tel No.
+91 612 2225644, 2221230 

Fax No.+
91 612 2232868

Email: [email protected]

 

State Human Rights Commission,
Bihar

Chairperson Justice Shri S.N. Jha

9, Bailey
Road,

Patna –

Bihar,
India

Email: [email protected]

 

National Human Rights Commission India

Faridkot House,
Copernicus Marg,

New Delhi – 110001

India

Tel.No. +91
1123384012

Fax No. +91
1123384863

E-Mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

 

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Commission Bihar

Assistant Director: Shri
R.K. Mishra

14, New A.G. Co-operative Colony,

Kadru,

Ranchi -834002

Jharkhand, India

Tel No. +91 651 2341677

 Fax No. +91 651 2340368

 

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Commission India

Chairperson
Dr.Rameshwar Oraon

6^th Floor,
'B' Wing, Loknayak Bhawan, Khan Market

New
Delhi-110003

India

Tel No.
+91 1124635721

Fax No.
+911 1124624628