The powerful ( mainland) man vs the NE woman

Ninglun Hanghal *

The visual impact of it all . Pix Courtesy :: TSE

Just two daya after the memory of "Nirbhaya" the December 16 Delhi gang-rape victim filled the air in Delhi and other parts of the country, another women of the same age group, a 25 year old, was allegedly raped by her superior. The said survivor reportedly took an active role in the protest in December last year for justice for Nirbhaya.

The incident happened all the while the high profile case of Tarun Tejpal, Editor in Chief of Tehelka Magazine, who is currently in Jail for sexually assaulting a female junior colleague was going on.

According to reports of the recorded statement of the survivor, the incident happened after a dinner party was hosted by the accused at his residence in one of Delhi's elite colony of Vasant Kunj on September 12. The Accused Dr Khurshid Anwar was the Director of an NGO, Institute for Social Democracy (ISD). The girl hailing from Manipur , who felt unwell after a drink, had stayed back for the night in his house, where the alleged rape took place.

A typical case of attempt to brush the issue under the carpet, the survivor was discouraged to take up the matter by her senior colleagues in the office, since the man in question was all in all authority, and that case could shake the whole organization, most importantly the NGO funding.

The girl then said to have hesitated to file the case was encouraged by her female colleagues and with the help of another women activist , Madhu Kishwar, a case was filed in the National Commission for Women. That was how the matter came to light.

The police have registered a rape case under sections 376 and 328 of the IPC on December 14. Four days later the accused committed suicide. The girl left the capital after recording her statement and filling the case.

Not surprisingly, in an attempt to protect its Director, the NGO Institute for Social Democracy (ISD) conducted its own probed and submitted a video recording to the National Women Commission. This act was done, interestingly , without any one asking the NGO to do so.

Once again , the story goes viral in social networking sites and are flooded with remarks, comments and abuse. Here , unlike the Tarun Tejpal saga, the accused seems to draw huge support from his powerful friends and elite circle. Many high ranking social intellectuals including renowned professors, were in defense of Dr Anwar..

While Dr Anwar left no suicide note, he had filed a defamation case. His own colleague had also countered the allegation of rape, that Dr Anwar had insisted the girl leaves the house that night, but her female colleagues had insisted she stayed back. They maintained that the video statement of the survivor was circulated in the internet / social networking sites to defame Dr Anwar.

The case which is still yet to be taken up legally has already invited "judgments" and counter arguments. The most common argument being "drinking alcohol" "night party" which the society seems to grapple with, and that the girl is wrong side, " she invites it (rape) ".

Post Tarun Tejpal saga, which was a litmus test for the media ( and handled very well by the media fraternity in exposing Tejpal ) this case too is a challenge for the NGO sector. A large number of women are employed in the NGO. It may be mentioned that NGOs who are supposedly working under a slogan of equality or social justice, or women empowerment do not have any women sexual harassment committees, nor follow any policies and guiding principles under The Supreme Court's Vishaka Guidelines.

The accused, a powerful NGO director and the victim a junior employee is a case that need to be looked at from the prism of sexual harassment at workplace by a superior towards a junior, a classic case of power at play.

In the recent months many women have come out and break their silence against sexual harassment , abuse and molestations. Many waters have flown down since the December 16 and Tarun Tejpal case. Even the Law have been "reviewed and amended ".

But, sadly many in India , including the educated class are still deeply caught in the patriarchal mindset. In this case of the powerful ( mainland) versus the 'survivor' from a far flung corner of Northeast India, we cannot but reiterated that the Power imbalances between the two persons in the case is obvious. All the more while support/ solidarity poured in from the affluent sections of the society for the accused, not surprisingly , there is no out-pour , no protest for justice for the girl. The girl left the capital quietly without any noise.

And once again we cannot but ask , was it because it is a case of a Northeast woman? Will it be wrong to say that the 'survivor' belongs to Northeast and so there is more support for the accused?

While no one came to the defend of Tarun Tejpal (except of course his family and close aide) here , Dr Anwar's colleagues, professional and personal friend have all came to his defend.

Some of the counter abuse and remarks in defense were made not only to the victim / survivor , but on the National Commission for Women and activist Madhu Kiswar , who had helped filed the case. They were accused of spreading false charges in the media, with the Dr Anwar given no chance to defend himself. Lines such as this were put out in the face book; "Beware of false women's activists seeking publicity; women's activists should not get away with false charges to fulfill political ambitions. We must boycott all activities of lopsided feminism and its ignorant supporters".

While the man, apparently under guilt had committed suicide, his colleagues and friends had even suggested that the women should be prosecuted for abetment to suicide.

Clearly, it is a case of the ( mainland) man in power versus the north east woman with no power but only few friends, a women organization and the only hope is the legal system.