http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061014/asp/nation/story_6869775.asp
Woman paraded naked for 'rape' RASHEED KIDWAI Bhopal, Oct. 13: Phoolwati Bai was first paraded naked. Now, she has been charged with abetting rape. The 27-year-old came to Bhopal today from tribal-dominated Dedhgaon village of Harda district, 180 km to the south, to narrate her tale. Phoolwati said her "crime" was that a young boy and girl had "trespassed" into her house, made love and left when she was not around. But non-tribal villagers of Dedhgaon thought otherwise. They told police she had encouraged 16-year-old Shankar to get physical with 14-year-old Gauri to draw voyeuristic pleasure. Phoolwati has been charged under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of rape. Surrounded by women's rights activist Shamim Modi and other members of the Shramik Adivasi Sangathan, Phoolwati said she had been dragged out of her house by Gauri's father. "The womenfolk, too, joined in. I was stripped naked, garlanded with shoes and paraded around for no fault of mine," she said. Modi said it was strange the police had let off "criminals" who paraded a tribal woman naked and the boy who supposedly raped Gauri. "Only Phoolwati has been charged under Section 376, which is strange, unjust and in violation of the SC/ST act." Phoolwati was later taken to Madhya Pradesh director-general of police A.R. Pawar, who ordered a DIG-level inquiry. "We will get to the bottom of it," Pawar said. In Madhya Pradesh, instances of women being paraded naked are common and often used to settle family disputes or debts. Last month, two Dalit women were assaulted, stripped and one of them raped in two districts of the state. In the first incident, members of the Gujjar community barged into the house of Harbai, 40, stripped and raped her, following a dispute with her over a plot in Chattarpur district in the Bundelkhand region. The second incident took place in Lohabasai village of Morena district. Kishori Ahirwar was battered and stripped before her family. When they tried to intervene, they were beaten with sticks and iron rods. -- Subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a BLANK email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
