03-West Bengal Report.pdf - People's watch

West Bengal
154
Annual Report on Torture
2007
Case Details:
FF Code
Victim(s)
Perpetrator(s)
Location
Date of incident : 21/04/2007
: W.B./Mon (Gopen Chandra
Sharma)/Murshidabad/
May-16/05/2007/ SL. No.-54.
: Saptami Sarkar
: 1) Somnath Banerjee, OC, Jalangi
PS; 2) Utpal Das, SI, Jalangi PS
: Saptami Sarkar’s in-laws’ house,
Laxminarayanpur village.
Victim Saptami Sarkar married Joyprakash Sarkar in 2004 and lived with his family at
Laxminarayanpur village. After the marriage, Joyprakash Sarkar and his family began to
demand a dowry from Saptami Sarkar. They physically and mentally abused her, and her to
ask her father to arrange for more money.
On 21 st April 2007, Joyprakash Sarkar, while drunk, began to abuse Saptami Sarkar physically.
At around 11.00am, Saptami Sarkar contacted her mother and told her that her husband had
beaten her brutally.
On 22 nd April 2007, Saptami Sarkar’s parents reached her in-laws’ house with two friends and
a local Panchayat member. There, they learned that Saptami had hanged herself.
At 1.00pm, Saptami Sarkar’s family and friends went to Jalangi PS. OC Somnath Banerjee
collected some of their signatures before telling them to bring Saptami Sarkar’s body to the station
– but insisting that no police officer could accompany them to Saptami Sarkar’s in-laws’ house.
Saptami Sarkar’s family and friends went to her in-laws’ house. There, they saw that her body
had needle prick-marks on the feet, blood stains near the ears and genitals, and other injuries.
At 3.30pm, Saptami Sarkar’s parents brought her body to Jalangi PS. Her father, Ajit Sarkar,
tried to register a complaint, but SI Utpal Das refused to register an FIR because receive the
complaint because Ajit Sarkar had included in his complaint the name of Mira Sarkar, Saptami
Sarkar’s sister-in-law, who was a PC at Baharampur PS. The SI said that if Ajit Sarkar did not
remove Mira Sarkar’s name from the complaint, he would release all perpetrators in this case.
Saptami Sarkar’s parents eventually succeeded in registering a case against the perpetrators at
Jalangi PS u/s 498A/306/34 IPC. An officer of Jalangi PS arrested Saptami Sarka’s brother-inlaw,
but no other perpetrators were arrested.
On 30 April 2007, Joyprakash Sarkar surrendered before the Baharampur Court.
PC Mira Sarkar has stated that she was on duty at Baharampur PS on 21 April 2007, and that
she was shocked to learn the next day that Saptami Sarkar had died.