Pushed Against the Wall

Aasha Mehreen Amin
Lavina Ambreen Ahmed

She was a young woman with a promising future. She was lively, intelligent, pretty and was all set to achieving her goals. But circumstances forced her to forsake her plans and take an impromptu, tragic decision. Farzana Afrin Rumi committed suicide on April 14 (Bangla Nabobarsho), in her own home in Doulatpur, Khulna as an outcome of continuous harassment by local mastaans.

Jahanara Akhter (Rumi) was a victim of continuous harassment

The youngest amongst the two children of Abdul Bari and Jahanara Akhtar, Rumi lived in their own house in a neighbourhood known as “Mollar Mour” in the Pabla area of Doulatpur. The para was named after the neighbourhood terror Daba Mollah. One of the main cronies of his armed gang is his own nephew Rony Mollah. Rony had been trying to woo Rumi since she was in the seventh grade. Rumi's parents were so worried that they left their own house named “Protikkha” in Mollar Mour and moved to the Cantonment area. Rumi often had to go to school wearing a burkha so that Rony could not identify her. But circumstances forced them to return to Protikkha a few years later after Rumi passed her HSC exams. Rumi's father who is an accountant for BFIDC was not getting his salary for quite some time. Since he couldn't pay the house rent, the family had no option but to move back to Mollar Mour in their own house. Rumi's parents hoped that Rony would have lost interest in their daughter. But it seemed that he was just waiting for the right time to make his next move.
Once when Rumi and her mother were home, three young men came to the house announcing that Rumi's father had had an accident. They had firearms with them and intimidated the mother and daughter but did not take anything. Rumi's father when he heard about the incident tried to file a General Diary at the thana but the Constable demanded the names of the culprits. Since he did not know their identities, the Constable refused to file a GD, although he could have entered the report as an FIR (First Information Report).
In the evening, Rony and his uncle Daba Molla came to Rumi's house saying “Did you get scared? Don't worry, we are here.” Since nobody outside the family was supposed to know about the incident Rumi's father suspected their involvement in the incident and refused to let them in.
On Bangla Nabobarsho, Rony charged into Rumi's house with his accomplices. Rony wanted to forcibly take Rumi with him and marry her. He was armed and pulled at her hand. Rumi came to talk to them and asked Rony how he would maintain a wife since he had no job. In reply, Rony showed her his revolver and said he earned TK 2000 daily with the help of firearms. Rumi's parents then sent her to her room. Her mother told her to try to run away from the house if she could. Rumi went inside and locked herself in her room. A few minutes later, the perpetrators tried to break into her room but when they did, they found her hanging from the ceiling fan. They fled from the scene right away and Rumi was rushed to the hospital but she breathed her last on the way.

Rumi had just passed her HSC exams from Khulna Cantonment Public College in the science group. She had a good academic record, received primary scholarship in school and obtained star marks in both SSC and HSC exams. Rumi was determined to complete her education.

On 23rd December, 2001, Simi Banu, a student of the Narayanganj Fine Arts Institute killed herself. The state filed an 'Unnatural Death'(UD) case following her suicide on behalf of her father. Later the Home Minister visited Simi's house and advised the police to investigate the case under Section 306/34. According to Section 306, 'if any person commits suicide whoever abets the commission of such suicide shall be punished with the imprisonment of either description which may extend to 10 years and shall be liable to fine.' Section 34 states that if several persons are involved in the crime each one of them is equally guilty. Therefore, the police filed a case in this regard. But somewhere along the line the case was shifted to the 'Public Nuisance Act' under Section 76 of DMP.

Simi, protesting injustice with her life

After silently enduring the humiliation inflicted by the neighbourhood mastaans for some time, Simi couldn't take it anymore. On December 21, she slapped one of the mastaans named Khalil for verbally abusing her and pulling at her dupatta. Khalil took this opportunity to lodge a complaint against Simi to the local Sub-Inspector (SI). SI Bashar went to Simi's house and insulted her parents and advised them to control her movements. On December 23, Simi's father was forced to give consent to organising a shalish aimed at condemning Simi's 'liberal' ways. That day, before the shalish started, some people of the locality came to Simi's house and hurled abuses at Simi and her family. “Simi was way too independent and out of control” was the complaint of their neighbours. Simi's father reprimanded her for all the insults and snide remarks they had to put up with. Unable to take the collective insults, an angry and helpless Simi committed suicide as a protest against an unjust society that subjugates and harasses women at every pretext. In her suicide note she accused four local goons and SI Bashar for her suffering. She further wrote, “I can't endure the insults anymore. There was no justice for me. But I want to protest so that other women don't have to take their own lives.”

Simi's mother said that the goons even threatened to throw acid on her face.
On September 28, 2002, the verdict of Simi's case was declared. The four neighbourhood mastaans namely Mofajjal Hosain, Enayet Karim Doyel, Akibur Rahman Khalil and Mohammad Ripon were all given one-year jail terms and a fine of TK 1000 each for leading Simi to commit suicide under the Public Nuisance Act of DMP Section 76. The sentence would extend to another month if they failed to pay the fine. S.I Abul Bashar too was given one-year jail sentence and a fine of Tk. 1000. Another accused, Simi's neighbour Enayet Chowdhury was acquitted because his name was not mentioned in Simi's letter.

The suicide of Simi as a protest against the scoundrels who taunted and harassed her, literally to death, should have shocked society into taking action so that such tragedies would never again occur. It should have but didn't. Apart from a few days of media hype the story soon lost public interest. About six months later, another young girl, Trisha, a mere child, jumped into a pond to escape her harassing assailants who watched her floundering in the water until she died. Even then nothing significant happened in terms of preventive action. Now again two more promising lives have ended because nobody could protect them from the neighbourhood thugs.

Every neighbourhood or para has its own group of miscreants who, apart from being involved in all kinds of crime, also prey on young, helpless girls who have no option but to travel unchaperoned. These are the girls who, while travelling along lonely alleys, are mercilessly taunted by the parar mastaans. They are forced to hear obscene comments or declarations of love, they are pursued relentlessly. Sometimes, when they explicitly reject the thug's proposal, the perpetrators throw acid on them disfiguring them for life. Sometimes these helpless girls are kidnapped, sexually abused and then thrown away onto the streets.

Trisha jumped into the pond to escape her assailtants who watched her drown

For Simi and Rumi who came from respectable families, it was the humiliation to their families that was too much for them to bear. Family honour is the most important thing for our society sometimes even more than a person's life. Young girls are constantly under pressure to behave according to the norms of a self-righteous society so that no matter what happens their reputation and consequently their families' reputation, are kept intact. Any aspersion on a young woman's character no matter how unjustified, causes immense trauma to the girl herself because it hurts the family honour. Unfortunately many criminals use this vulnerability as a weapon. When Simi slapped one of the mastaans who had pulled at her dupatta and made obscene remarks, the criminal in turn, filed a General Diary at the local thana and it was accepted. The mastaans had influential members of the community, even the local Sub Inspector, on their side. Everyone was united in their opinion that Simi's activities were immoral or not in keeping with what girls of 'good families' are supposed to do. In reality, Simi's 'activities' were mainly restricted to doing artwork for weddings and other functions that often meant coming home late. She wanted to help out with family funds. She wanted to be financially independent. That was her crime. No one protested the perverted behaviour of the local mastaans. It was implied that Simi had brought it on herself.
In Rumi's case too, the perpetrators with police support have been trying to establish that she was of 'loose character'. “Men like Rony know how to control the situation,” says Mominul Islam Suruj, a senior investigation officer of BNWLA (Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association), who has been actively involved with Rumi's case. “If he likes a girl he will find various ways, including intimidation, to get her.”

But how do men like Rony -- and there is at least one in every neighbourhood -- get away with it? Usually it is because they are backed by influential people including political parties. Rony is a member of the powerful Molla family who for generations have lived in the area. His own grandfather forcefully drove away a number of families and began to illegally occupy their land in the 60s. Rony's brother Rana was a leader of Chatra Dal. Rony himself was involved in drug trading and had several cases including an armed robbery case, against him. Daba Molla was allegedly involved in a rape case.
Ordinary people's fear and political clout are the biggest weapons for mastaans like Rony to intimidate helpless families, to sexually harass young women and then to get favourable treatment even in the legal system.
The neglect and corruption of the police at the thana, is perhaps, the most important factor that gives a free field to the culprits. The illegal activities and crime Rony and his gang were engaged in, must have been in the knowledge of law enforcers, but they did nothing to stop him as he had political influence. Often, as in the case of Rumi, the police do not write out all the details as given by the victim's family or even refuse to file a report. This weakens the case and may even allow the culprit to go scot-free.
Double standards of the legal system were evident in Simi's case, writes Yasmin Aziz Poppy in a bulletin of Ain O Shalish Kendra. If a member of the police force is one of the accused and if the investigative officer is a policeman, then the objectivity of the proceedings may be questioned. In this case why can't another organisation be asked to do this task, asks Aziz. According to human rights lawyers, Simi's case could have been placed under Article 10 of the Repression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000. The Article states that any act that humiliates a woman or any obscene gestures directed at a woman, falls under sexual harassment, the punishment for which is seven years imprisonment and not less than two years imprisonment.

In Simi's case, the family got a raw deal in the name of justice. On September 28th, 2002 the verdict for Simi's case was announced. For harassment of a woman, under the 1976 Dhaka Metropolitan Act, Enayet Karim Doel, Akbar Rahman Khalil and Mohammad Ripon were sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment and Tk.1000 as fines. Sub Inspector Abul Bashar was sentenced to one year's simple imprisonment and a fine of Tk. 1000 under article 166. Enayet Choudhury, another accused, was acquitted. This verdict has only encouraged other such individuals who harass girls on the streets. What act constitutes such “sexual harassment” however is not explicitly stated in this article. In this case says Article 509 (Penal Code) could be cited. According to this Article such an act would include any comment, word, gesture or display of object that causes humiliation to a woman. On November 7th all the accused were granted bail by the court.
During the trial the Metropolitan Magistrate said that there was no evidence and that it was not witnessed by anyone that the accused had helped Simi to take poison.
Accused Enayet Chowdhury was acquitted based on his name not being in the list mentioned by Simi. Simi's father has said in court that this same Enayet was the one who told Simi 'You should commit suicide'.
In Rumi's case, the culprit Rony was caught and the case was charge-sheeted under the Repression of Violence against Women and Children Act of 2000. “There were several factors that made this possible,” says Advocate Syeda Sabiha, a lawyer of BNWLA, based in Khulna who has taken Rumi's case. “In this case there are witnesses who have attested that the culprit had a weapon and he threatened to kidnap Rumi.”

But it was also the active role of the public, the continuous media attention and the positive role played by BNP stalwarts that ensured Rony's arrest. According to Mominul Islam of BNWLA, Rony was actually apprehended by the public and handed over directly to the court and not to the police. “The public didn't want to send him to the police perhaps because they thought that the accused might use his uncle's influence to get bail.”
“From BNWLA's side we were fortunate to be able to take timely action. All the news regarding the case was covered in the media. Every day there was a human chain protesting the crime,” Says Sabiha.
The continuous media coverage prompted BNP bigwigs to go to Khulna and declare Rony's brother Rana to be expelled from Chatra Dal. Obviously this significantly reduced Rony's ability to manipulate the case and influence law enforcers. Even the Police Commissioner, says Sabiha, played a positive role. Thus, follow-ups by human rights organisations and the media play a vital role in favour of the victim.
At the time of writing this report, however, the case was still not closed. The accused party is still trying to distort the facts by saying that Rumi and Rony where in love, that it was because Rumi wanted to be with Rony that her father had slapped her, and she committed suicide. Witnesses who remain anonymous for security reasons have said that this is not true.
Trisha's case was one of the few cases in which justice was delivered very quickly. On September 30, 2002, about a month and twenty-two days later, the verdict was declared. According to the verdict, three of the accused were sentenced to death.

Tragedies like Rumi, Simi and Trisha's deaths continue. One of the most recent cases is of 14 year old Alpina of Karimganj who was sexually assaulted by miscreants in her own home in front of her mother. She too could not take the humiliation and hung herself a few days later.
Story of young girls killing themselves after being subject to psychological torture and sexual harassment are becoming more common. Many stories are not even reported for fear of repercussions from the culprits or to protect the family's reputation.
The crime of harassing young women until they are pushed to take their own lives continues unabated because the victims and their families are not influential, because law enforcers can be bribed or politically pressurized because the perpetrators are supported by the political party in power, because society in general is not supportive of the victims.