Thousands of people including the Catholic Church leader in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have demanded exemplary punishment for men who raped 13 tribal women.The unmarried tribal women aged 16-20 reportedly were assaulted on Feb. 21 in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh state, where they worked in a brick kiln.
Local news reports said that around midnight, at least 18 armed men entered a makeshift house for women workers. The men molested and raped migrant workers from Jharkhand's Ranchi and neighboring Lohardaga districts.
As news of the incident spread, tribal organizations in Jharkhand called for protests.
Thousands of tribal people responded, shouting slogans as they marched on Feb. 24 through Ranchi, the state capital, 1,160 kilometers (about 720 miles) southeast of New Delhi, and Lohardaga town.
Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo of Ranchi said in a Feb. 23 press release that perpetrators of rape should be given exemplary punishment and victims should receive "justice at all cost."
The incident proves that women of "dalit and tribal societies are not safe in the country even in the 21st century," Asia's first tribal cardinal wrote. It "also proves how the so-called higher-caste people see" people belonging to dalit and tribal communities, he said.
“Dalit” is a Sanskrit term meaning "trampled upon" and is used to denote people at the bottom of the traditional Indian caste system who formerly were called "untouchable."
Cardinal Toppo described rape as "the most heinous crime against humanity" in comments for UCA News. "Whether the victim is tribal or non-tribal, one could not find enough words to condemn whoever commits it."
The protesters demanded that the Jharkhand state government "act immediately" to ensure that the culprits and kiln owners are charged and prosecuted. They also demanded a federal inquiry and compensation to the victims.
"Our poor sisters go to work in the brick kilns of Uttar Pradesh to support their families, not to lose their modesty," Neelam Baxla, a Catholic college girl who led the protest rally in Ranchi, told UCA News.
Some young people at the protest rally held their state government responsible for the situation in which poverty compels tribal women to migrate outside the state to make a living.
Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar state in 2000 for the declared purpose of augmenting tribal advancement, but its leaders have "failed to guarantee" adequate employment opportunities for tribal people, charged Michael Ekka, a college student.
Dayamani Barla, a tribal women leader, went further in asserting that "the governments did nothing for the betterment of tribal people" in the six years since the state's formation and "only exploited them further."
According to Barla, hundreds of migrant tribal women "eke out a livelihood" in several Indian states, facing physical and sexual violence. "So many tribal girls who have gone out for work, are missing too," she told UCA News.
Cardinal Toppo agrees that the state has not done enough "to provide social security and eradicate poverty of our villages, which forces people to migrate as laborers."
The kiln rape case puts the situation in stark relief, he said. "This incident is an eye opener for the people and government of Jharkhand. We have to work for the poor joining hands."
Reacting to the demands of various political parties as well as church and social organizations, Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda said he has asked officials to provide a detailed report about the incident.
Koda told UCA News on Feb. 24 that the crime would be probed with the help of the Uttar Pradesh government "to ensure safe return of the girls and maximum punishment to the culprits."
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