Raped Indian nun denounces police

britexpat
By britexpat

From the BBC...

The nun now refuses to co-operate with the Orissa police
A Roman Catholic nun raped in the Indian state of Orissa, allegedly during a riot by Hindus, has publicly denounced local police.

The nun held a news conference in the Indian capital, Delhi, in which she demanded that national police take over the investigation.

The Orissa police have been heavily criticised for delays in the case.

More than 30 people have been killed in anti-Christian violence in Orissa's Kandhamal district in recent months.

Thousands of Christians have been made homeless.

The 29-year-old nun lodged a complaint on 25 August alleging rape by a member of a Hindu mob. The first arrests in the case were on 3 October.

The nun's head and face were covered with a scarf as she addressed a brief news conference in Delhi.

She alleged that a Hindu mob attacked the Christian prayer hall where she worked in Kandhamal in Orissa.

She said a group of some 50 men tore off her clothes. She was then raped, before being paraded down the road as police looked on.

"They had already torn away my blouse and undergarments... and they went on beating me with hands on my cheeks and head and with sticks on my back."

She said that when she asked for protection from local police officers, they did not move. And later, she said, they were unwilling to hear the details of her ordeal.

"I was raped and now I don't want to be victimised by Orissa police," the nun said.

The violence in Orissa began after a Hindu religious leader was shot dead.

Although left-wing Maoist rebels in the state claimed responsibility for the killing, hard-line Hindu groups blamed the minority Christian community for the death.

It is the worst outbreak of communal violence against Christians since Indian independence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described it as a national shame.

A heavy security presence in Kandhamal has brought the situation under some control now.

By britexpat• 27 Oct 2008 23:06
britexpat

So basically , you are blaming the "other" side and saying that they were forced into a killing spree..

That makes them no better than the other side..

By Arien• 27 Oct 2008 17:15
Arien

Cant believe even the media back in India. There are claims that the whole story was fabricated. The incident has happend, but accused and the poor nun are scape goats..

Brit what your read is right.. mass conversions have happend in that region past years...

By narainbabu• 27 Oct 2008 16:56
narainbabu

edifi should understand one thing. from where it all started> who has burnt the train and the people who travelled. if hindus started to do revenge because other regligion had forced them to do it. otherwise all will sit on head.

By alsboy• 27 Oct 2008 16:06
alsboy

Wot more can u actually expect from a bunch of crooks who r actually or happen 2 b cops??? A bottle of rum and 500 Rs note is all tht is required 2 keep des people's mouth & eyes shut. Dont believe me, take a vacation 2 India and c it 4 urself...!!! National Shame... Instead of doin sumthing abt de matter, de PM ends up terming it as "National Shame". He certainly did get his public attention, wot abt de helpless Nun, anybody bothered??? I dont think so... Now thts wot 'shame' is all abt...!!!

By nadt• 27 Oct 2008 15:51
nadt

Winn, you seem to be confused about our comments. Of course rape is a henious crime and its not accpetable regradless of whether some is religious or not. Our comment here was based on the topic, this being a "nun" raped, we were not discussing rape in general.

By britexpat• 27 Oct 2008 14:29
britexpat

Thanks for the clarification..

However, I believe that there must be a means of requesting the supreme court to hear your case.. I think the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee can be approached to file a case on your behalf..

Perhaps , an indian or a legal type can shed some light..

By Winn• 27 Oct 2008 14:23
Winn

Brit: Well as a norm, Supreme court can take up the case only as an appellatte court, ie, if the parties involved has a problem with the high court decision.

It is upto the state police to investigate and submit a report on this case and keeping them out of the case would be tantamount to saying "You guys are ALL useless, and we dont EXPECT you to investigate a case properly, so we are giving the case to a federal authority", which, even if legally viable, would be sending across a wrong message. The responsibility and onus of bringing a closure to this case should be vested on the state police and they must be forced to deliver. That is the only solution I see. I guess the Supreme court was right in this decision.

----------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By britexpat• 27 Oct 2008 13:05
britexpat

from today's Daily Mail ..The last paragraph is interesting..

"At least 35 people have died during weeks of anti-Christian attacks in Orissa and nearly 50,000 have fled their homes, remaining in state-run shelters.

Human rights activist John Dayal said: 'The conditions in those relief shelters are terrible. There are no toilets and officials say tribal women don't need any toilets.

'People have no faith in police.'

Dozens of churches, prayer halls and Catholic-run schools have been attacked in the state, which is ruled by a political party allied to India's Hindu nationalist party.

Hardline Hindu groups accuse missionaries of bribing poor tribes people and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity by offering free education and health care.

Catholic groups say Christians in the state are being forced to reconvert to Hinduism.

Pope Benedict XVI has strongly condemned the violence.

India's Supreme Court this week rejected a plea by a Catholic bishop for a federal investigation into the alleged rape, saying the matter should be probed by the Orissa

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1080745/Nun-attacked-gang-raped-40-men-anti-Christian-violence-India.html

By britexpat• 27 Oct 2008 10:32
britexpat

I agree with you partially. In this case though, she was targeted primarily because of her religion.

By Winn• 27 Oct 2008 10:27
Winn

Understand how you feel abt the issue scarlett and nadt, but as a person who is not into relegion and stuff, I see it as a heinous crime no matter who was victimised. Speaking for myself, it doesnt change anything if the person was of any p'ticular relegion. I do understand that it might be seen differently by a religious person.

Brit, Manmohan Singh is a brilliant academic, but I'm not an admirer of his administrative skills, to say the least.

-------------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By JunX• 26 Oct 2008 17:50
JunX

The world is crazy...

By britexpat• 26 Oct 2008 16:22
britexpat

You are right. The politicians have a l;ot to answer for. However, we have seen with the recent anti-Christian attacks and the Hindu / Muslim riots, that the central government has been slow to "denounce" these incidents or bring the culprits to justice..

By nadt• 26 Oct 2008 14:15
nadt

Winn, this is what i meant by raping a nun..Thanks Scarlett for explaining it further.

Scarelett qoute "the crime is horrendeous and its not a sexual one..its one of violence and it was done to belittle someone they consider a religious icon. It IS worse than "just" rape because it had a message to it. This could be compared to someone raping a religious leader who has dedicated his life to Allah or a Hindu..

By Winn• 26 Oct 2008 13:18
Winn

Scarlett:Yeah, the police is as much if not more guilty. Their position and responsibility makes their actions(inaction rather) a more serious offence than being an accomplice.

-----------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By anonymous• 26 Oct 2008 12:19
anonymous

Its sad to know that Minorities in India are not given the rights.

The bureaucracy and top notch political figures tend to pull down the minorties on various fronts.

Unless minorties r not part of the government machineries the actroicities will tend to continue.

By princess habibah• 26 Oct 2008 11:59
princess habibah

Scarlett I agree that the police need a firm handhold to set them straight. They should all be fired, pay a fine and ridiculed at the very least, if not given a jail sentence. In fact, I believe that in any good justice system being a witness to such a crime and not taking any action or witnessing against the perpatrators makes them equally as guilty.

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By Scarlett• 26 Oct 2008 11:24
Scarlett

the crime is horrendeous and its not a sexual one..its one of violence and it was done to belittle someone they consider a religious icon. It IS worse than "just" rape because it had a message to it. This could be compared to someone raping a religious leader who has dedicated his life to Allah or a Hindu god..and the police sitting by watching makes them just as guilty as the ones doing the raping. They allowed it to happen..which is what they are supposed to be stopping. So much for being big brave police officers. Tell you what...if I was a citizen of that city, I certainly wouldn't want anyone of that personal caliper taking care of me and my family...no way you could trust them.

You know, its one thing to have the police stand by and watch with the rape and crowd there, but its quite another to have them ignore her when she tries to report it...what gives with that??? Are they part of the problem as well?

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked,the good fortune to run into the ones I do,and the eyesight to tell the difference.

By Winn• 26 Oct 2008 10:14
Winn

Brit: The judiciary is quite matured, in fact there have been times when high courts and the supreme courts took up cases on their own initiative. In fact there are cases that are open only because the judiciary wont let the police to close it citing lack of evidence.Only trouble is with the local police in most cases. Again what chains the hand of the police is the politics.

-------------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By Arien• 26 Oct 2008 09:57
Arien

Its sad .. Lots of things happening all over India offlate. Its all politics to a big extend..

one party will suppport to please the vote bank and the other oppose..

Orissa were bad, I think everything started after some tried convert few.. people are crazy

By anonymous• 26 Oct 2008 09:51
anonymous

I may misunderstood it again and be accused of reacting violently? I have not posted any offensive language above so I don't know if PITTY is somewhat offensive?

"dgoodrebel will always be the rebellious good one"

By britexpat• 26 Oct 2008 09:49
britexpat

The sign of a maturing nation is its "justice system"..

Perhaps the media can now help highlight cases of miuse of power and justice and help India become the country it deserves to be..

By Winn• 26 Oct 2008 09:46
Winn

Yes Harry, the media had a big hand in it...notwithstanding all the sensationalism they dish out , when it comes to raising hell over such issues they do a real good job!! In fact media has grown to a point where even the most powerful and the most daring think twice before meddling with it.

Nadt: IMHO,Any rape is despicable; whether the victim is a nun or a prostitute.

But I do agree with you that its a shame on whoever stood and watched it. They are a part of the crime.

-------------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By realsomeone• 26 Oct 2008 09:35
realsomeone

Its sad story, it happened in pune few years back when a Ugandan guy abused a hindu God and he was chased by the hindu extremists and no police was willing to save him. finally they killed him in a very bad way. so the indian police has no eyes to look for the hindu extremists.

Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!

- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

By Andrews• 26 Oct 2008 09:32
Andrews

Winn....everybody knows about Naveen Patnaik's coilation govt. and BJP's support to his govt is more important to him than poor christian lives. he's just copying MODI to appease BJP.

By Andrews• 26 Oct 2008 09:26
Andrews

Harry you said it..

By svelte_saggi• 26 Oct 2008 09:10
svelte_saggi

(sigh) politics.....it's a dirty game...

Keep smiling!

Saggi!

By Harry99• 26 Oct 2008 07:23
Harry99

I believe teh state government actions were just to appease the media and put a lid on the uproar..

I really hopre that the assailants will be caught, but gong by past history, I doubt it will happen.

By crazynoddy• 26 Oct 2008 02:36
crazynoddy

i was replying to dmightysolomon. he was not aware of godhra incident it seems!!! :(

By a4ajmal• 26 Oct 2008 02:29
a4ajmal

please clink on the link if anyone is still not aware of the incident.

and that same modi* is going to visit qatar i heard.

allahualam :)

*watch the video for more details

By JunX• 26 Oct 2008 01:45
JunX

Man...Ur torture is more brutal..Cant even imagine of stitching their butt holes....and on top of that a massive dinner.....They will C hell...lol

By maajay• 26 Oct 2008 01:28
maajay

As this was one more human rape,not only a nun...there are thounsands of such cases happens in India every single day..couples of leaders or social workers cant stop or change it but all the sincere Indian Citizen got to come up and learn for it.

Also happend in India is,do what ever you want and use power of a leader or money and do it again..........its true and all Indians know about it.

i pray for the Nun who dares to ries her voice and helping India to be a better Nation, a power house of corrent world Economi!!!!

By JunX• 26 Oct 2008 00:21
JunX

They just wanted to rape her in the first place itself. Then they put it in the name of religion and thus riots start... These rapers should be given the torture that Daniel gets in James Bond 007 Casino Royal......

By princess habibah• 26 Oct 2008 00:10
princess habibah

Aren't the police there to protect? Or do they think rape is the womens fault in that society?

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By nadt• 25 Oct 2008 23:00
nadt

Well said Scarlett. I cant believe how people can sink so low to rape a nun. Whats even worse is for the people/police who just stood by and watched.

By Scarlett• 25 Oct 2008 22:35
Scarlett

any nationality or religion can be racist...its the PERSON not the nationality or religion that is the problem...heero...surely you are hiding your head in the sand to think that NO hindu can be racist...There's bad ones in every bunch...regardless of who you are speaking of at the time!!

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked,the good fortune to run into the ones I do,and the eyesight to tell the difference.

By edifis• 25 Oct 2008 22:28
edifis

All hindus are not racist towards other religion. But there are Hindu fundamentalists in India. They still dream of making India a Hindu state. Hence the problem.

By heero_yuy2• 25 Oct 2008 22:16
heero_yuy2

For what?

I remember an old issue about tumbling down a mosque in India by Hindus in rage that caused a violent reaction to Muslims years later for several bombings...

"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

By britexpat• 25 Oct 2008 19:56
britexpat

Perhaps the Police were afraid for their lives..However, the actual action of the mob is deplorable and should not be allowed to go unpunished.

By askme• 25 Oct 2008 18:30
askme

Very sad to hear this...

India should take strict action for such cause but due to corruption, poverty and cunning and corrupt leaders no progress has been made..

By crazynoddy• 25 Oct 2008 16:34
crazynoddy

i was talking on a humanitarian basis and i was never trying to hurt or support anyone community in particular. here it is watch these videos to get the whole picture about the incident.

you may find loads like this in youtube

&feature=related

&feature=related

&feature=related

&feature=related

By Winn• 25 Oct 2008 16:20
Winn

Crazynoddy: Nobody raised a word about Godhra? It was one of the biggest (and most shocking) news that was covered in all channels. Remember the Karan Thapar interview where Modi was literally taken apart and he ended the interview much ahead of the scheduled time?

--------------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By Winn• 25 Oct 2008 16:16
Rating: 4/5
Winn

Bhubaneswar: A day after an Orissa nun recounted before media persons in New Delhi the trauma of being raped by a mob, the state government Saturday sought her cooperation in identifying the rapists and promised her security.

"We have offered to provide her all security and requested her to cooperate," Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told OTV news channel. The state government said it was ready to conduct an identification parade of the alleged rapists at the place she wants and where she feels safe.

The state government suspended the officer in charge of the police station after the matter was highlighted by the media and ordered the crime branch of the police to probe the incident.

Crime branch officials said they had arrested nine people and asked for a test identification parade, a mandatory legal provision.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1686424

------------------------------------------------

“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

By anonymous• 25 Oct 2008 14:21
anonymous

post it and we will react the same way. As you see in the above reactions, nothing to do with being a nun or Hindus but the inhuman act itself.

"dgoodrebel will always be the rebellious good one"

By crazynoddy• 25 Oct 2008 14:17
crazynoddy

if anyone listen to the stories of godhra riot happened in gujarat* absolutely against the muslims without any reason.

nobody raised a word about it as it was against muslims and done by the hindu mafia. now whats the point bringin up this topic for discussion??? may be bcos.....!! human life got equal respect whether its male or female or they belong to different colour or nationality or race or religion!!!!!

*north western state of india also colloquially known as gujjuland means land of gujarathis.

By edifis• 25 Oct 2008 14:17
edifis

The rape and assault itself is not a national shame, as these unfortunate things happen all over the world. But whats disgusting is the attitude of the police.

The non action by the police who are supposedly the protector of the Law is really shameful. They are a disgrace to our country.

Who are the real culprits here, the rapists or the Police personnel present.

I think whatever punishment is given to the rapist, the same should go for the local police too.

By edifis• 25 Oct 2008 14:08
edifis

This is why I can never be proud of my nationality.

Someday, I hope I can proudly proclaim myself as an Indian.

By qatman• 25 Oct 2008 14:03
qatman

dmightsolomon, yes, disgusting is the right word for it. Its not just the culprits but also everyone behind it that needs to be collected like garbage.....

By qatman• 25 Oct 2008 13:50
qatman

I agree with you Stallion it is one of the reasons why India is not a Super Power.

By anonymous• 25 Oct 2008 13:49
anonymous

you call it very disgusting and just imagine the mental torture it gave the victim. The culprits should be collected like garbage and thrown alive to. . . . . . .

"dgoodrebel will always be the rebellious good one"

By Stallion• 25 Oct 2008 13:48
Stallion

Experts believe that India may have become the next world superpower if it were not for the racial/religious diffrences that tortured the country. :(

By qatman• 25 Oct 2008 13:43
qatman

Its very unfortunate such things happen and more so because the local police ( who generally are from the majority) tend to ignore it. The Minorities in India have lost faith in the police. More than often they turn a blind eye when such things happen, and the culprits go free.

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