Shame Forced Victim To Quit Job, Return To Mizoram

By Sumegha Gulati

New Delhi, Oct 15 : For four years, the survivor of the 2010 Dhaula Kuan gangrape case awaited justice, silently piecing her life together. Her church and community helped her in rebuilding her confidence. The struggle ended on Tuesday with a Delhi court convicting all five accused in the case.

Kuki, who belonged to the same church as the victim and helped her through her ordeal over the four years, said the woman was very strong in the initial days after the rape. “She was getting all the support — from students to activists to politicians, police, media. However, the real struggle started after the frenzy died down. She began to suffer from extreme mental stress,” Kuki said.

Though Kuki did not know the woman personally prior to the incident, she had spotted the woman in her church. Kuki — who is a social activist — felt it was her responsibility to support the victim.

“I was the one in-charge of her compensation. After the incident, she (the victim) was too disturbed. She could not go back to the BPO where she worked because everyone recognised her. She felt ashamed and helpless. So, she quit her job and returned to her home in Mizoram soon after,” Kuki said.

Back at home, the victim’s family supported her whole-heartedly. “Nobody in the village knows what happened to her. And we do not wish to say or do anything that might give her identity away,” Kuki said.

Once she returned home, there were bouts of depression. She also broke down repeatedly. “Her major concern was that she was dependent on her family financially. So, she opened a small business from her home and is running that to sustain herself,” Kuki said.

The woman, now 34 years old, is single and believes her involvement church and community activities has helped rebuild her life.

“Over the years, many media persons have approached us seeking permission to see her. In fact, a filmmaker from New York had contacted me some time ago for the same purpose but she turned it down. She believes that if she talks about it now, she will have to relive the ordeal — that is unacceptable to her,” Kuki said.

The woman, Kuki confirmed, did receive a “small amount” as compensation for which she is “grateful” to the authorities. “However, we do hope that the court will show some leniency in awarding her the compensation this time as she has been out of work since 2010.”

Additional Resident Commissioner, Mizoram, Sangchhin Chinzah agrees. “We welcome the verdict. I am relieved that the accused have been convicted. This will prove a deterrent for others. However, the case was delayed for too long. In such cases, the investigation and trial should be fast-tracked,” she said.

Four Years After Delhi’s Other Gang Rape, Five Convicted

By Aditi Malhotra

A woman held a placard during a protest against the gang rape of a northeastern woman in Delhi’s south in 2010.

Before the famous Delhi gang rape case in 2012, there was this one:  In 2010, five men raped and kidnapped a 30-year-old female call center employee in India’s capital, a judge ruled on Tuesday.


The woman, who had come to India’s capital from the northeastern state of Mizoram, was picked up at gunpoint on Delhi’s southern ring road at about 1 a.m. and assaulted in a moving vehicle before being thrown out in Mangolpuri, an industrial neighborhood in Delhi’s west, police said. The five men, Usman, Shamshad, Kamruddin, Shahid and Iqbal, who each use a single name denied the charges.

The verdict was delivered by Judge Virender Bhatt at a sessions court in Dwarka in southwest Delhi after hearing 58 prosecution witnesses and 10 defense witnesses during the course of the trial.

Amit Shrivastava, a lawyer for one of the five defendants said he may appeal to a higher court of law. “The final battle is yet to be fought,” Mr. Shrivastava said.

A hearing for sentencing in the case is set for Friday, Oct. 17. Satwinder Kaur, the prosecutor, said that she would seek life imprisonment for the men. Life is the maximum punishment and 10 years in prison the minimum that the men can expect because they were charged under a previous provision of the law.

Under the new legislation introduced in 2013, death is the maximum punishment in the “rarest of rare” cases of sexual violence. The law was amended in response to the death of a 23-year-old woman who was gang-raped and murdered in New Delhi in 2012. The men responsible for her rape and murder were put on death row and are currently appealing the sentence.

Following the incident in 2010, people from India’s northeast living in the capital took to the streets campaigning for better safety for hundreds of women who come from India’s northeastern states to big cities like Delhi for better education and employment opportunities.

Activists say that despite the efforts of the government to curb the discrimination against people from the northeast and the increased attempts to check violence against women in the city, northeastern women remain uncomfortable in the Indian capital. They are often victims of racial discrimination as well as crimes against women.

The results of a 2011 survey by a New Delhi-based helpline dedicated to people from the northeast, revealed that 78% of those interviewed said they faced racial discrimination. The helpline also recorded crimes against northeastern women, and molestation accounted for 34% of the crimes recorded.

India does not have an anti-racism law, a demand that was made earlier this year by a committee appointed by India’s federal ministry of home affairs to look into issues relating to security and determine the causes behind racism. The committee was set up after the death of Nido Taniam, a 20-year-old boy from the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, who was fatally attacked by a group of men, an assault that police said was racially motivated.

95 Percent of Mapping of Mizoram Schools Completed: Minister

Aizawl, Oct 15 : Mapping of all the schools in Mizoram was being conducted and 95 per cent of the work has been completed, state School Education minister H Rohluna said today.

Speaking at the function when the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) Mission officials and the Young Mizo Association (YMA) signed a memorandum of understanding to work together, Rohluna said that the mapping work would be completed by December.

The location of all the schools and profiles will now be available in Google, he said.

He added that cleanliness in educational institutions would be one of the top priorities of the government and appealed to the NGOs to cooperate with the government in this venture.

Manipur Rebel Outfit Pulls Out Of Peace Talks

Imphal, Oct 15 : The United Revolutionary Front (URF) which signed a ceasefire agreement with the Manipur government has pulled out of peace talks.

The group which had denounced the state government's current surrender policy now wants back the arms and ammunition it deposited while signing the peace pact. Deputy chief minister Gaikhangam said the state government would discuss the matter with the Centre.

A conglomerate of around five factions of the underground Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), URF had signed the tripartite "Suspension of Operation" agreement with the state and the Centre a few years ago.

The outfit's total cadre strength is over 400 and nearly 130 of them including its leaders lived in their designated camp at an Assam Rifles complex in Loitang Khunou in Imphal West, sources said. The outfit left the camp a few days ago, they added.

In a statement, URF chairman Lanheiba Meitei said the outfit has no faith in the policies of the state and the Centre. Anybody who surrenders to the government using the name of the outfit and its armed wing, Manipur Army (MA), will be killed, he warned.

The outfit threatened to attack members of the ruling Congress if the state government stages a "surrender drama" with a 'fake' URF.

The outfit will launch its "valley operation" soon under "army commander" Loyangamba Meitei, he said.

Gaikhangam, who also holds the home portfolio, said on Monday, "I don't want to comment on this issue. We will consult the Centre." He added that URF's move betrays its frustration with the ceasefire rules.

Foreign Tourists inflow into the Northeast India Has increased by 27%

Shillong, Oct 15 : Foreign tourists inflow into Northeastern states has increased by over 27 per cent last year against a national growth of only 5.9 per cent, a top Union Tourism department official said here today.

"The number of foreign tourists visiting the Northeast region has increased by 27.9 per cent in the past one year," Union Tourism Ministry Secretary Parvez Dewan told reporters at the sideline of a third International Tourism Mart – 2014 held here.

A jump of 12.5 per cent was registered in foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to the northeast in 2012 as against 2011, which further rose by more than 100 per cent to register a growth of 27.9 per cent during 2013 in comparison to 2012, he said.

There were a total of 58,920 FTVs to the northeastern states in 2011 with the figure going up to 66,302 in 2012. That number further increased to 84,820 in 2013.

Among the eight states, there is a sudden growth in the flow of foreign tourists to Manipur, one of the eight states in the Northeast region in the past one year, they said.

"About 154 per cent of foreign tourists visits Manipur during 2012-2013 which is keenly followed by Arunachal Pradesh with a growth of 111 per cent," Dewan told reporters at the sideline of a 3rd International Tourism Mart– 2014 held here.

Tourist inflow to Tripura increased by 51 per cent, Nagaland – 33 per cent, Meghalaya – 27 per cent, Sikkim – 19 per cent and the least was Mizoram with 9.25 per cent only, he said.

In 2013, Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) to India were 6.97 million with a growth of 5.9 per cent as compared to 6.58 million during 2012, a data of the tourism ministry said.

Stakeholders in the industry had suggested that state governments should facilitate field visits by embassy officials of those countries who issued travel advisories to their nationals against visiting these states in the region.

Ebola Scare in Manipur, High Alert in The Northeast

A Japanese tourist currently living in Manipur has been kept in isolation for showing symptoms akin to Ebola. Alerted by this development, all state governments of the North East have increased their screening procedures for immediate detection of cases of Ebola and have also started keeping a close watch on the entry of foreign nationals in the states.

According to a news report published in downtoearth.org.in, 27-year-old Kawakubo Yuko entered Manipur from Myanmar. She suddenly developed fever and was hospitalised. The doctors soon raised the red flag suspecting her symptoms were identical to that of Ebola and immediately admitted her to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal nearly a week ago. Her blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and the results are yet to come in.

A scientist at NIV (who does not wish to reveal his name) said, "There are samples of Ebola which come in like the sample from Manipur. Though no positive samples have been found as of now, the result for Manipur samples will also be coming in a few days".

NIV has a team of 15 scientists working on the samples of Ebola coming from Pune, Mumbai and other parts of the country.

In the meanwhile, the Manipur government is taking no chance. It has set Ebola screening gates for passengers at the Imphal airport and at the international border with Myanmar As an additional layer of security, the state is also screening people at its borders with Nagaland and Assam.

The biggest worry at this moment is the state government may be extremely ill-prepared, infrastructure wise, in case of an outbreak. Thus the state is in overdrive to take all kinds of precautions.

Other states like Assam are also on alert. There is already a pre-existing method of screening foreign nationals for the last few months. Their travel details are also been looked into. Footballers from Africa have also been checked, according to the news report. Tripura has also implemented a search protocol.

Though there have been earlier Ebola scares in cities like Mumbai and Delhi, so far, all the cases have turned out to be negative.

Government’s Bid To Import Rice From Myanmar Flounders

By Sandip Das

New Delhi, Oct 14 : The government's attempt to import about one lakh tonne of rice from Myanmar for the Targeted Pubic Distribution System (TPDS)

The government's attempt to import about one lakh tonne of rice from Myanmar for the Targeted Pubic Distribution System (TPDS) in Manipur and Mizoram may not succeed, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) getting bids far higher than the expected price.

Sources told FE that MMTC and STC, which floated the global tenders on behalf of FCI for importing rice, got average bids of around $600 per tonne against the expected $400 per tonne. The corporation got $ 588 and $ 680 per tonne respectively for Manipur and Mizoram for rice import from Myanmar. “We received bids (for rice import) much higher than our anticipation of $ 400 per tonne,” an official said.

Last month, the government had approved import of one lakh tonne of rice in the next five months from Myanmar to the north-eastern states in view of disruption of grain supplies due to commencement of long-pending railway gauge conversion work on the 220-km Lumding (Assam)-Badarpur-Agartala (Tripura) line.

A food ministry official said the government has to now plan out an alternate model for meeting the demand for rice for TPDS in the north-eastern states during the gauge conversion work.

The cost of transporting rice from surplus states like Punjab or Andhra Pradesh to Tripura and Mizoram works out to about R3,200 per quintal, taking into account FCI’s economic cost at R2,755 per quintal. "As against this, importing rice from Myanmar would be more economical at around R2,400 per quintal ($400 per tonne), including the cost of transportation from the border," an official had earlier said.

Food ministry officials said although the railways has proposed to complete the gauge conversion work by March 2015, it might be delayed. “Since more than 70% of transportation of foodgrain from Assam to the rest of the north-eastern states is done through the railways, the government is importing rice to increase grain stock so that TPDS distribution is not disrupted,” an official had said.

Lost Child-Tracing Portal Hit By Poor Infrastructure in Northeast India

Guwahati, Oct 13 : Lack of computers in many police stations and poor internet connectivity have stopped police in many northeastern states from uploading data in TrackChild, a national portal aimed at searching missing children, say officials.

Representatives of state governments in the region raised the issue during a consultation on TrackChild, organized by the union women and child development ministry under its Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).

"Children going missing and trafficking is a very serious issue in Assam and rest of the northeast but our police stations have not been able to make proper use of the portal yet," said Assam Social Welfare Secretary H.K. Sarma.

"One of the reasons could be that many police stations don't have a proper computer system in place. Even if they have one, it is used in the daily activities of fighting militants and criminal activities. If the ministry can financially support our police stations to buy computer sets and put in place a proper system, things will move for the better," he said.

Launched by the ministry in January 2012, TrackChild was aimed to offer a common digital online platform to put up details including photographs of missing children and assist police, NGOs and other child care institutions across the country to track them.

It was designed and developed adhering to the guidelines provided in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and Model Rules 2007 and the provisions laid down in the ICPS.

One of the tasks entrusted under ICPS to the state governments is the setting up a system to facilitate data entry and matching of missing and found children, and also enable follow up of the progress of children who are beneficiaries of the scheme. The portal also ensures proper monitoring and welfare of the children under the scheme.

"Poor internet connectivity in the region is also another problem for police and officials concerned in using TrackChild and this also hampers the investigation process," said Sarma.

"Records of northeastern states in tracking the missing children is bad so far. Data of missing children are uploaded in TrackChild only at the CID headquarters in Guwahati, instead of police stations in the districts," he said.

Sarma said about 9,500 children went missing from Assam alone between 2007 and June 2014 of which only 3,840 have been recovered from different places in the country either by police or NGOs working for children.

The northeastern region has however have lagged with only 190 of about 850 police stations in its eight states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim - putting up data of only 1,427 missing children, since the portal's launch.

Manipur, where children often goes missing or trafficked out of the region is even yet to start the project in the state.

"Infrastructure (computer and internet) is still a problem but we a re trying to start it soon," said an official of Manipur social welfare department.

Many children belonging to poor families in Assam and Manipur have been rescued from children home in south Indian states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the past.

They are normally taken out with the promise of good education and care but were many times found living in uncongenial atmosphere. Many children even faced physical, sexual and emotional harassment.