Tribal rights activist Soni Sori said on Tuesday that tribal women in the country feel insecure despite living in a democracy.
Tribal rights activist Soni Sori said on Tuesday that tribal women in the country feel insecure despite living in a democracy. Addressing a gathering at Jantar Mantar on the International Women’s Day, Ms Sori attacked both the police and the government for failing to protect tribal women and their rights.
“We live in a democracy despite which we are insecure. We are attacked and dissent is squashed. Even today, many tribal women are locked in jail. They face various kinds of tortures, atrocities and injustice. Is raising voice against injustice wrong Is asking for legal proceedings a wrong ” she said.
Ms Sori, who herself was attacked with an acid-like chemical in Chhattisgarh last month, alleged that the state police indulges in all kinds of atrocities and still manages to get away with it.
“The police are raping us instead of protecting. They call us Naxals and throw us behind bars. FIRs have been filed against the guilty policemen but no action has been initiated against them,” she alleged.
The 44-year-old tribal school teacher was arrested by the Delhi police’s crime branch for the Chhattisgarh police in 2011 on charges of acting as a conduit for the Maoists. During her imprisonment, Ms Sori alleged that she was tortured and sexually assaulted by the Chhattisgarh police. By April 2013, the courts had acquitted Ms Sori in six of the eight cases filed against her due to lack of evidence.
“Men are killed and women tortured in Bastar by those who want our land and, when we question them, they attack us,” she said, referring to the recent attack on her. Ms Sori had addressed JNU students on Monday.
Buoyed by the huge turnout in her support, Ms Sori vowed to continue fighting for the rights of tribals and women in Bastar despite the ordeals she was facing.
