Three days ago, a tribal lady, Madkam Hidme, was gunned down by joint security forces in the forests near Gorkha village in Sukma district. The woman, a resident of Gompad village, was also declared a dreadful Maoist.
Few hours after her death, her photo in Maoist uniform, got circulated on the social media.
Terming the incident as a fake encounter, the villagers revealed that there was no bullet mark on her uniform even when it was pronounced that she received 10 bullet injuries.
At the time of post mortem, the villagers of Gompad village refused to identify her as a Maoist and alleged that the lady was forcibly dragged into the forest by security personnel and was gangraped for whole night.
It was also alleged that to cover-up the matter, the security personnel killed her tagging her as a Maoist on Monday.
Meanwhile, the villagers and her family members refused to cremate her body and instead of it they buried. A high level impartial probe was also demanded by them in the case.
Villagers also requested the local activists and AAP leader Soni Sori and her team to visit them. But when the team of activists tried to reach the village, on June 15 along with the local media, police intervened and forcibly stopped them at different spots at Dornapal, Errabore and Injaram. Finally, the leader’s team was not allowed to move beyond Injaram Police Station.
Soni Sori, informed Pradesh18 that the police forcibly stopped them near Injaram police station and did not allow them to move further. On being asked the reason behind this, the officials replied that high level officers have instructed them to do so.
Terming the act as the encroachment of rights, Soni Sori alleged,”We were not wielded with guns or some arms and just wanted to know the actual situation.” She also added,”I will meet SP and Collector and file an FIR against the security forces involved in the gruesome murder of the lady.”
Claiming that Hidme was not associated with Maoists, she added that the victim, who is married, was doing household work when few uniformed security personnel spotted her and dragged her into the forest, covering her mouth to mute her screams.
“She was wearing a sari when abducted and was not a Maoist,” Sori stated adding that Hidme was later gang-raped whole night and shot dead on Monday morning after security forces allegedly changed her sari into Maoist uniform.
President of Samyukta Patrakar Suraksha Samiti, Kamal Shukla, questioned police actions and stated, “Hidme body received 10 bullets but the uniform she was wearing has no sign of bullet marks. The uniform itself explains the whole story.”
Denying the charges of stopping Sori Sori and her team, SP Sukma, Indira Kalyan Elesela, said, “If Soni Sori wanted to visit the village, she has to visit in the protection of police. We have information of presence of Naxals in the area that may prove to be a danger for her life.
Speaking further on the death of Hidme, she said that the case is being investigated.
Taking note of the incident, the State President of PUCL, Lakhan Singh, said, “Security forces deployed in the Naxal infested operational areas have become lawless and fearless.”
He also asserted that no high level officer went along with the security team while they are on operations. Hence, such grave violations of human rights and tribal rights are repeated continuously from the region.”