For the past twelve years justice has been
denied in the brutal case of the daylight massacre of eight Dalits in
Tsundur village of Guntur district, AP, revealing yet another blot in our
system’s ability to deal with mass crimes condoned by caste, gender and
community-driven biases
Background
We recall the mayhem
carried on in broad daylight in which eight Dalits were
brutally hacked
to death in the Tsundur village of Guntur on August 6, 1991, and their dead
bodies packed in gunny bags and thrown in nearby drain canals. There was
much uproar and Dalits and Dalit democratic rights organisations agitated
over the issue.
In this sensational case, the police ultimately
charge-sheeted 219 persons (28 are no more) belonging mostly to the Reddy
community under the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities ACT) and sec. 302
(murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC etc. by the end of the year. The
prosecution proposed to examine 135 witnesses. However, the case has dragged
on for the last 12 years due to the apathy of successive state governments
compounded by the delay tactics of the accused in this massacre, which has
no parallel in the recent history of Andhra Pradesh (AP).
Delay till July 2003
For two years the case could not reach the
spl. sessions court under the SC&ST (PA) Act, Guntur, as eight accused had
not been arrested by the police. Later, the case against the absconding
accused was separated and the case of the remaining accused (about 200) was
committed to the spl. court in 1993. In 1994, the case reached a stalemate
as the accused raised an objection that the victims belonged to the
Christian faith and hence there could be no charge under the SC & ST (PA)
Act. The matter was then taken to the AP high court by the accused after the
spl. judge held that the victims were Hindus. Later, a trial date was fixed
for October 1994 but the government took no steps to ensure that it was held
in Tsundur village as promised to the victims even though a school building
in the village was remodelled and furnished with a budget of about Rs. 4
lakh to hold camp court. So, renewing their demand for the trial to be held
in their village, Dalit witnesses in the case had refused to receive
summons. Later, the judge decided to hold the case trial at Tsundur village
itself. The case was further stalled by efforts of the accused challenging
the choice of Tsundur as the location for the trial. The case was once again
taken to the AP high court in 1994. However, in 1995 the AP high court
remanded the issue to the trial court. Ultimately, in 1995 the trial judge
decided to hold the trial at Guntur instead of Tsundur.
Spl.
PPs appointment delayed
The Dalits made two requests: 1) The
trial should be held at Tsundur. This they insisted on for the safety and
security of witnesses. 2) They demanded the appointment of special public
prosecutors. As the appointment of public prosecutors goes by political
patronage, the Dalit community of Tsundur wanted special public prosecutors,
whom they had confidence in, to be appointed.
It took five years for the
appointment of special public prosecutors as demanded by the victims. In
August 2000, the government issued a GG in that regard. The GO advocated for
appointment as spl. PPs two human rights activists who could take steps to
get the case appearance in the spl. court and get the case tried speedily.
Nevertheless, the district civil and police administration has been
indulging in creating all manner of hurdles to delay the trial process.
Camp court building not renovated
As for the
provision of a camp court at Tsundur, the facts are as follows:
On
5.8.2003 the spl. public prosecutors filed a memorandum before the spl.
judge to try the case in the camp court at Tsundur. The GO appointing them,
they pointed out, made it clear that the trial should take place at Tsundur.
Earlier, in 1997 as well, the AP high court had requested the government to
provide protection to the trial court in Tsundur while holding camp court at
Tsundur. Responding to this in writing, the SP, Guntur, assured the high
court that they would provide bandobust at Tsundur. The same was
communicated to the trial court by the high court in 1998.
On 2.9.2003
the spl. judge, Mr. N Balayogi addressed a letter to the district collector
Mr. Ramakrishna Rao requesting that he make all necessary arrangements,
including security arrangements, at Tsundur. However, since there was no
response from the district collector even by 29.9.2003, the judge had no
choice but to postpone the case. The building was not made ready by the
administration even by the date of the next adjournment (31.10.2003) and the
case was again postponed to 27.11.2003. However, there was no response from
the district administration on this day though some steps had been taken to
renovate the building. The case was again posted to 10.12.2003, which,
incidentally, is International Human Rights Day. The collector thus, is
responsible for about three months’ delay in trying the case.
Non co-operation by police to the spl. PPs
On their
part, the police administration has been taking no interest in this case. In
spite of repeated requests by the special PPs, the concerned police
officials have so far not handed over the CD files of the Tsundur carnage
cases to them. The case record runs into about 2000 pages, which takes
months for the prosecutors to prepare for effective layering on behalf of
the prosecution. It is also doubtful whether all the case files are in fact
with the police. The inspector of police, Tsundur, told representatives of
the Victims’ Association that it took great effort to trace just a fraction
of the records.
The police were not prompt in filing the death
certificate of one of the accused, who died a couple of months ago, though
they were given one month’s time to do so. Thus, in an indirect way, they
helped those who needed to delay the case trial.
12 year-old NBWs
against eight accused still to be executed
The case against the following
eight absconding accused has been pending with the committal court in the
spl. mobile court, Guntur, for the last 12 years without being committed to
the spl. court:
1) A119: Mr. Kondamadugula Venkatappa Reddy S/o Mr.
Venkata Reddy, R/o Modukur,
2) A146: Mr. Kosana Ramakrishna Rao S/o Mr.
Venkaiah @ Kirasanayilu Venkaiah, R/o Munnangivaripalem,
3) A151: Mr.
Ikkurthi Venkateswarlu, S/o Mr. Subba Rao, R/o Munnagivaripalem,
4) A169:
Mr. Gorrepati Krishna Reddy, S/o Mr. Rami Reddy, R/o Munnagivaripalem,
5)
A170: Mr. Modugula Kotireddy, S/o Mr. Sambireddy, R/o Tsundur,
6) A176:
Mr. Kosana Venkaiah @ Kirasanayilu Venkaiah, S/o Mr. Yedukondalu R/o
Tsundur,
7) A184: Mr. Gorrepati Appireddy @ Babu, S/o Mr. Ramireddy, R/o
Tsundur,
8) A188: Mr. Bontha Papireddy S/o Mr. Kotireddy, R/o
Munnagivaripalem.
They are yet to be arrested even 12 years after the
charge sheet was filed and NBWs have been pending against them for more than
a decade. Even the inspector of police, Tsundur, could not tell us in which
court the separated case was pending. Though some of the absconding accused
are very much present in Tsundur and surrounding places, no efforts have
been made to arrest them.
The Victims’ Association made efforts and
traced the case to the spl. mobile court, Guntur. Though the magistrate has
addressed several letters to the police authorities during these 12 years,
the concerned police have not even been attending to the court on the
adjournment dates.
If immediate steps are not taken to arrest the eight
absconding accused and the case is not committed to the spl. sessions court
immediately, the entire trial exercise will have to be undergone again for
them. This results in the wastage of the precious time of the hon’ble spl.
sessions judge. The police department would also be burdened with serving
summons to all 125 witnesses again at public expense. The witnesses would
lose their working days for a second time on attending the trial for a
second time.
The right to speedy trial is a fundamental right and the
provision of equal justice a constitutional obligation, and the State and
its instruments have been brazenly violating the fundamental right of the
Dalit community and have been guilty of the flagrant breach of their
constitutional obligation to provide equal justice to the victims and their
community.
The IGP (PCR cell) Mr. Mandanlal paid a visit to Guntur a
month ago in relation to the Tsundur case. Displaying great discourtesy, he
did not show any interest in meeting the spl. public prosecutor Mr. B
Chandrasekhar who, on his invitation, visited the guesthouse where he was
camping. He has not taken any steps to find the eight absconding accused,
nor shown any interest in removing hurdles in the conduct of speedy trial.
Our demands
Regardless of the case being a
sensational one that has been awaiting justice for 12 years, the attitude of
the state government and the district civil and police administration is
highly reprehensible. We feel that it is an intentional attitude assumed to
help the culprits. The attitude is an outcome of a racist perception of the
Dalits and their cause. It makes Dalits lose faith in the administration of
justice even as they await it eagerly.
We demand that the chief minister
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu take steps to remove all the hurdles in the way of the
trial of the case on a war footing and take action against all the
officials, however high their position may be, for showing apathy towards
and causing delay in trying the case. We also demand the appointment of a
committed special officer to oversee the prosecution and co-ordinate between
the spl. public prosecutors, the district police and civil administration,
and the state government.
KG KANNABIRAN
National President, PUCL
JALADI MOSES
President, TCVA
People’s Union for
Civil
Liberties (PUCL)
128, Hanuman Temple Street, East
Maredupalli,
Secunderabad- 500027
Phone: 27730632
Tsundur Carnage Victims’
Association (TCVA)
Ambedkar Nagar, Tsundur,
Guntur Dist. AP
(Phone: 08643-310453)
Hyderabad, 07.12.2003 n
