Punjab Human Rights Organization received information on March 5, 1992 that a CRPF man had raped a young Sikh woman at Chohla Sahib village in Amritsar district. A four member team including Punjab Human Rights Organization Chairman D.S. Gill

and its General Secretary Mohinder Singh Grewal went to the village to investigate the matter. He met several persons of the village including Manjit Kaur, the victim, her husband Khazan Singh, her mother-in-law Pritam Kaur, Panchayat member Piara Singh and Dharam Singh Sandhu with whom Khazan Singh, a Mazhabi Sikh, works as a farm labourer.

Chohla Sahib is about 25 kilometers South-West of Tarn Taran, headquarters of Police district, and has a population of about 10,000. The village owes its present name to the blessings of Sikh Gurus, Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind. The village has historic Gurudwaras including Darbar Sahib, Dukh Niwaran and Mata Ganga Ji.

The PHRO team learnt that this was not the first incident of high- handedness at the hands of the security forces in the village. They had earlier even attacked at Darbar Sahib Gurudwara in this village. The behavior of the security men leads one to believe that they are on a certain mission assigned to them to dishonor and humiliate the Sikhs.

About three months back, according the village panchayat member Piara Singh, The CRPF posted in village attacked the Gurudwara at night without any provocation or incident. The Gurudwara is situated in between two posts, manned by the police and the CRPF. First a few rounds were fired by the police personnel. The CRPF immediately opened indiscriminate fire on the Gurudwara building. More than a dozen shots hit the building. In addition, two hand grenades were lobbed on the Gurudwara; one falling in the holy tank and the other at the periphery of the tank. Next morning the CRPF entered the Gurudwara and removed all the debris caused by their attack. The Sub-divisional Magistrate (S.D.M.)and other officials did inspect the place but no action was taken against any personnel.

In the present case, Pritam Kaur, the 60-year-old widow and mother-in-law of the victim told the PHRO team: “On February 22, 1992 at about 8.45 p.m., we had just gone to bed when someone knocked at our door and in Hindi dialect called loudly to open the door. We refused to do so telling him that there was no male member in the house but the man went on shouting and knocking. Out of fear, | and my 16-year-old daughter Kashmir Kaur climbed the roof of our house by a ladder and then went to the adjoining house leaving my 4-months pregnant daughter-in-law Manjit Kaur and Mahni, a 5-year-old daughter of my daughter.

“We shouted for help but being afraid, the neighbors did not respond. We went to the house of Dharam Singh Sandhu with whom my son Khazan Singh works as a farm aid. He along with Bhajan Singh (son of Munsha Singh) accompanied us to our house.”

 

“When we reached our home, the outer gate was still bolted from inside and Manjit Kaur was shrieking at the top of her voice. Mahni was also wailing aloud. We called Manjit Kaur to open the door but she kept screaming and the gate was not opened. So, we went to the neighboring house and from there we climbed our roof and entered the room. By that time, it was all over.”

Dazed, the 24-year-old Manjit Kaur told the team that when her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had left the house, the man who was drunk scaled the wall and entered their house. He stayed there for half an hour, during which he kept pulling her hair, trying to strangle her, biting her cheeks like a monster and molesting her brutally. The bite marks left by the sex-fiend on her cheeks were still very prominent. After a pronged persuasion, she consented to be photographed. Her expressions and gestures clearly showed that she felt reluctant to narrate the story of her dishonor.

She further said that when her mother-in-law and Dharam Singh Sandhu had called her from outside, she could not open the door as the wicked person was not allowing her to come out of his clutches. Thereafter, he released her and jumped over the wall before her mother-in-law and others could come in. He left his shawl and sleepers in her room while escaping. Due to darkness she could not properly see his face but he had his beard shaved, had moustaches and spoke in Hindi. According to her, he could not but be a CRPF cop and appeared to be one of those who had been looking upon her with lusty gaze for some time.

Khazan Singh, the husband of the victim, confirmed that on February 22 at about 6 p.m. two armed and uniformed CRPF men who were drunk were standing in front of his house and looking lustily inside the house. Satnam Singh (son of Saudagar Singh) who was also watching had remarked that how unashamedly they were looking in.

Khazan Singh added: “On the night of February 22, 1992 I was at the Tubewell of Dharam Singh. I learnt about the whole misdeed from my mother when I returned to my residence to next morning. The culprit had left his Slippers and a khaki shawl behind. There were hairs of my wife on the shawl. After my arrival in the house, the men from the local police post took away the shawl and the slippers without recording the statements of my wife and the others. Fearing repetition of the incident, I gave an application to the police that they should ensure that such incidents do not reoccur.”

What to say about any action taken by the police, according to the panchayat member Piara Singh, the SHO Sarhali Balkar Singh prevailed upon the villagers not to take up the matter at any forum.

The CRPF even came to Dharam Singh and asked him as to why he had allowed Pritam Kaur and Kashmir Kaur to come to his house for help. Even till a day before the visit of the PHRO team, the behavior of the CRPF towards the family of the victim smelt of their sinister designs. Dharam Singh’s brother-in-law Harbans Singh saw a few CRPF men pointing towards Kashmir Kaur lustily when she and her mother were coming out of the house of Arjan Singh (son of Surain Singh) on March 7.

There are numerous incidents of molestation of girls at the hands of the CRPF. The people have not forgotten the sexual exploits of the security forces in the villages of Rataul and Sangha. Only afew weeks ago, the security forces found three boys standing in Gharka village about 8 kms towards the Beas, picked them up, raided their houses, separated three unmarried girls and raped them. Sarpanch Nasib Chand, a lackey of the administration, suppressed the matter. The poor parents hastened to marry off the girls.