India rape suspects beaten badly by police
Hugh Freaking Dillon
Posts: 14,010
NEW DELHI - Police badly beat the five suspects arrested in the brutal gang rape and killing of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, the lawyer for one of the men said Thursday, accusing authorities of tampering with evidence in the case that has transfixed India.
"They are innocent," Manohar Lal Sharma said of the five suspects ahead of a court hearing, which ended quickly after it turned out some of the official court paperwork listing the charges was illegible. He said police have beaten the men and placed other prisoners into the suspects' cells to threaten them with knives, adding, "You can't believe the reality of Indian prisons."
Five men have been charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman and a male friend on a bus as it was driven through the streets of India's capital. The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on Dec. 16 and eventually died of her injuries. Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.
Sharma, who has made a series of inflammatory and often-contradictory statements over the past two days, at one point Thursday said the dead woman's male companion, who boarded the bus with her after the pair saw a movie together, was "responsible for the whole thing." He gave no details, though, and a few hours later said the man's responsibility "was only my opinion."
The case has sparked protests across India by women and men who say India's legal system doesn't do enough to prevent attacks on women. Women have told stories of relentless abuse — from catcalls to bus gropings to rapes — and of a police and judicial system that does little to stop it, often blaming victims' unchaste behaviour.
The woman and her male friend were coming home from a movie at a New Delhi mall when they boarded a bus that police say was carrying the defendants, who were travelling together on a joy ride through the city. The woman's friend, who has not been identified, has said he tried to defend the woman but was soon beaten unconscious. Authorities say the two were dumped off the bus, naked and bloody, later.
Sharma said that authorities, under pressure to quickly wrap up the case, would convict the suspects no matter what evidence, including forcing them to make incriminating statements.
"What happened to this woman was so heinous, so horrible," Sharma said, adding that, "the police will manipulate the facts."
Sharma also said that the woman's companion was ultimately responsible.
"The boyfriend betrayed" her, he said. "The boyfriend is responsible for the whole thing," he said, before backing away from the statement later in the day.
Sharma spoke to reporters before a hearing for the suspects in a New Delhi court complex. While Sharma had said he represented three of the suspects — bus driver Ram Singh, Singh's brother Mukesh, and another man, Akshay Thakur — the court eventually approved him to serve as the lawyer only for Mukesh Singh. Other lawyers were assigned to three other suspects, and it was not immediately clear why the fifth had no assigned lawyer.
The suspects were quickly hustled into the courtroom Thursday afternoon for the hearing, their faces covered by scarves or hats. They were surrounded by rings of policemen, and it was not clear if they were handcuffed or shackled.
Thursday's hearing had been expected to result in the case being sent to a special "fast-track" court. India's legal system is painfully slow, corrupt and inefficient, with many cases lasting years, even decades.
But much of the work of the hearing had to be postponed until Monday, after lawyers found that some of the official paperwork was not legible.
Sharma appears to be preparing a defence based, in part, on the many problems with the legal and judicial system. He indicated the men had been picked up because the authorities needed to make arrests given the public outcry, and the suspects all come from poor or working class families.
"If the parents of these boys had money, they would not be in court today," he said. India's court system is notorious for allowing wealthy defendants to go free, or at least delaying their trials for years.
He said his clients had all been badly beaten by authorities — a practice common for those under arrest in India — and had repeated whatever statements the police asked them to make. He said Mukesh Singh, 22, was now constantly in tears.
"He is sobbing like a child and saying 'Get me out of here, sir,'" Sharma said.
Authorities have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring the death penalty. A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said last week that a DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim matched blood stains found on the clothes of all the accused.
"They are innocent," Manohar Lal Sharma said of the five suspects ahead of a court hearing, which ended quickly after it turned out some of the official court paperwork listing the charges was illegible. He said police have beaten the men and placed other prisoners into the suspects' cells to threaten them with knives, adding, "You can't believe the reality of Indian prisons."
Five men have been charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman and a male friend on a bus as it was driven through the streets of India's capital. The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on Dec. 16 and eventually died of her injuries. Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.
Sharma, who has made a series of inflammatory and often-contradictory statements over the past two days, at one point Thursday said the dead woman's male companion, who boarded the bus with her after the pair saw a movie together, was "responsible for the whole thing." He gave no details, though, and a few hours later said the man's responsibility "was only my opinion."
The case has sparked protests across India by women and men who say India's legal system doesn't do enough to prevent attacks on women. Women have told stories of relentless abuse — from catcalls to bus gropings to rapes — and of a police and judicial system that does little to stop it, often blaming victims' unchaste behaviour.
The woman and her male friend were coming home from a movie at a New Delhi mall when they boarded a bus that police say was carrying the defendants, who were travelling together on a joy ride through the city. The woman's friend, who has not been identified, has said he tried to defend the woman but was soon beaten unconscious. Authorities say the two were dumped off the bus, naked and bloody, later.
Sharma said that authorities, under pressure to quickly wrap up the case, would convict the suspects no matter what evidence, including forcing them to make incriminating statements.
"What happened to this woman was so heinous, so horrible," Sharma said, adding that, "the police will manipulate the facts."
Sharma also said that the woman's companion was ultimately responsible.
"The boyfriend betrayed" her, he said. "The boyfriend is responsible for the whole thing," he said, before backing away from the statement later in the day.
Sharma spoke to reporters before a hearing for the suspects in a New Delhi court complex. While Sharma had said he represented three of the suspects — bus driver Ram Singh, Singh's brother Mukesh, and another man, Akshay Thakur — the court eventually approved him to serve as the lawyer only for Mukesh Singh. Other lawyers were assigned to three other suspects, and it was not immediately clear why the fifth had no assigned lawyer.
The suspects were quickly hustled into the courtroom Thursday afternoon for the hearing, their faces covered by scarves or hats. They were surrounded by rings of policemen, and it was not clear if they were handcuffed or shackled.
Thursday's hearing had been expected to result in the case being sent to a special "fast-track" court. India's legal system is painfully slow, corrupt and inefficient, with many cases lasting years, even decades.
But much of the work of the hearing had to be postponed until Monday, after lawyers found that some of the official paperwork was not legible.
Sharma appears to be preparing a defence based, in part, on the many problems with the legal and judicial system. He indicated the men had been picked up because the authorities needed to make arrests given the public outcry, and the suspects all come from poor or working class families.
"If the parents of these boys had money, they would not be in court today," he said. India's court system is notorious for allowing wealthy defendants to go free, or at least delaying their trials for years.
He said his clients had all been badly beaten by authorities — a practice common for those under arrest in India — and had repeated whatever statements the police asked them to make. He said Mukesh Singh, 22, was now constantly in tears.
"He is sobbing like a child and saying 'Get me out of here, sir,'" Sharma said.
Authorities have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring the death penalty. A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said last week that a DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim matched blood stains found on the clothes of all the accused.
Gimli 1993
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08
That being said, I'm also glad they got beat up. Hope it hurt.
Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl
I love you forever and forever
Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
http://preventconnect.org/2013/01/respo ... -violence/
Responding to the gang rape in India: 5 Lessons about preventing sexual violence
By David Lee on January 9, 2013
In the aftermath of the horrible gang rape on a bus in India, we are seeing a remarkable public outrage about rape. This event has catalyzed a movement of women and men committed to addressing this often unnamed pervasive problem. In the opinion piece by Sohaila Abdulali in the New York Times she stated
…when I was 17 I could not have imagined thousands of people marching against rape in India… yet there is still work to be done. We have sent generations constructing elaborate systems of patriarchy, caste, societal and sexual inequality that allow abuse to flourish. But rape is not inevitable like the weather.
I believe that change is possible. This is a moment where we need to think about social change and prevention. And we need to get together to plan and do this hard work.
Here are 5 lessons for preventing sexual violence that I have learned from recent events in India.
1. Rape is a problem everywhere (not only in India) In a recent Letter to the Editor to the New York Times, Quinnipiac University professor of anthropology Hilary Haldane critiqued recent editorial and opinion pieces that had noted that while “India has terribly high rates of sexual assault and other forms of violence against women, they do not mention the fact that violence is a global epidemic, not solely a byproduct of Indian culture. Our similarly high rates of sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence in American culture seem to be accepted by a collective shrug and a ‘blame the victim’ mentality.“ Recent studies like the National Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Survey (nearly 1 in 2 women (44.6%) and 1 in 5 men (22.2%) experience sexual violence throughout their lifetime) demonstrate the pervasiveness of sexual violence in this country. The rape in India reminds us that we need to take action everywhere.
2. Silent No More The rape prevention movement of the 1970s started with Speak Outs Against Rape where survivors came forward with their stories in order to imagine a world where people would not have to experience rape. Earlier this week Jyoti Singh’s father thought the same as he stated in an interview with the Mirror News:
We want the world to know her real name. My daughter didn’t do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter.
Speaking out is a catalyst for change. Let’s listen to those voices and move to advancing solutions.
3. Bystanders need to make a difference News reports describe how it took hours for someone to intervene in the Dehli gang rape. The bystander approach recognizes that anyone (and indeed everyone) can be part of the solution. Let’s figure out how to find ways to create a culture where it is expected that people will interrupt not only situations of violence and abuse, but also intervene in situations that contribute to the environment that makes rape acceptable.
4. Remix Manhood Preventing rape is tied to transforming the dominant forms of masculinity that celebrate men’s sexual conquest of women into healthy forms of masculinity that respects women and value men taking action to prevent men’s violence against women. It is not only in India that we see the concept of masculinity support an environment that is unsafe for women. It time to do more than “engage men” – we have to expect men to take action to create change.
5. Collective action is powerful In Hilary Haldane’s editorial she states “We could learn from the Indian response to the recent horrific death of a young medical student: collective action and demands for change.” There are many recent examples of primarily women (with some men) working together to build a movement. For example SlutWalks demonstrate outrage over a victim blaming statement from a police officer and Hollaback gives voice to demands to prevent street harassment. Now there are thousands of people in the streets in India working to create change. On February 14, 2013 many of us will join One Billion Rising against rape and domestic violence. The momentum of that action, rallies in India, and other protests can set the stage for creating the changes in our society necessary to end violence.
Of course, rape cannot be ended by the end of this news cycle, grant reporting period or even the end of the year. But we can apply these lessons to fuel our ongoing work to prevent rape.
What lessons have you learned to prevent sexual violence? And what will you do?
"I need your strength for me to be strong...I need your love to feel loved"
They're fucking animals! And you can try and change that by releasing a name. Schooling the culture on being different. Speaking up. Well you can try.
Even in my most perverted dreams I hate being second or third in and that is a dream. In a real life situation where my jollies are playing out in a rape scene.............(you get the gist, I hope).
In this case, I'd rather not live with an animal.
The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08
"I need your strength for me to be strong...I need your love to feel loved"