|
|
|
|
Posted on 27 January 2012 |
|
| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
|
SONI SORI |
|
Schoolteacher’s plea ignored, accused cop gets gallantry award
President’s medal for Chhattisgarh top cop Ankit Garg, who is accused of sexually torturing Soni Sori
Kunal Majumder
New Delhi
 |
|
Tribal school teacher Soni Sori
Photo: Shailendra Pandey |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
In a shocking turn of events, Chhattisgarh top cop Ankit Garg, accused of sexually torturing 36-year-old tribal schoolteacher Soni Sori, was awarded President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Republic Day.
Sori had written to the Supreme Court alleging that while she was in police custody in Dantewada on charges of aiding Maoists, she was stripped before Garg and given electric shocks under his directions. Sori had also alleged that Garg asked three policemen to sexually torture her when she refused to name well-known social activists such as Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar as Naxal supporters.
Garg was awarded for his role in a counter-insurgency operation that took place in October 2010 against Maoist guerillas. It was under his charge as the Dantewada Superintendent of Police, Sori was arrested in Delhi in October 2011 (read “ Tehelka, 15 October 2011 The Inconvenient Truth Of Soni Sori”. After the matter reached the Supreme Court, Garg was transferred to the police headquarters in Raipur.
Human right activists have protested the awarding of the gallantry medal to Garg. A note issued by women’s right group Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression says, “To confer awards on a person accused of such heinous acts diminishes the respect and honour usually associated with a gallantry award.” People’s Union for Civil Liberty General Secretary Kavita Srivastava condemned the move and called for a proper investigation into Sori’s allegation.
Garg refused to comment on the issue. However, in an earlier media interaction, he had claimed that the matter was resolved by the SC. However, Sori’s lawyer Colin Gonsalves says that the final hearing is yet to begin.
Kunal Majumder is a Senior Correspondent with Tehelka.
kunal@tehelka.com
Editing by Aninda Dey
|
