2 Bastar girls battle odds to seek justice
STANDING TALL Suneeta and Munni Pottam unwavered in their legal battle against alleged extrajudicial killings by forces in Bastar
NEW DELHI: Suneeta Pottam was only 10 when she was questioned by a policeman for the first time. She was at a market with her elder sister, a two-day walk from her village of Korcholi in Bastar division, Chattisgarh. The distrust of the police was so high that she had to think on her feet and lie about which village she belonged to. “Mujhe darr bilkul nahi laga tha par. Maine saare jawab diye unke (I didn’t feel scared. I answered all their questions),” says Suneeta.
On Jaunary 9, Suneeta, 20, and friend, Munni Pottam, 19, arrived in Delhi for the first time after a marathon 38-hour journey. They were in the city for two days to ask for a transfer of their case against extra-judicial encounters allegedly by security forces to the Supreme Court.
In the conflict-ridden villages of Bastar, life is not what you make of it but what the state makes it for you.
Suneeta had to stop studying after class 4, when her school building became a Salwa Judum camp. The following year, several houses in their village were burnt in a Salwa Judum attack.
As children, both of them watched villagers being beaten by security forces that would pass through. These injustices, considered routine, the adivasis had learnt to live with.
But in 2015, when the security
SUNEETA HAD TO STOP STUDYING AFTER CLASS 4, WHEN HER SCHOOL BUILDING BECAME A SALWA JUDUM CAMP
forces allegedly gunned down a man from the neighbouring village declaring him a Maoist, Suneeta says she felt an impotent anger. However, nobody came to ask them what happened or how they felt. A few months later, a team of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) found its way to the village and Suneeta along with her friend Munni became narrators of the stories of their village, in their halting Hindi.
“Jab humne pehli baar WSS se baat kiya, toh doosre gaon ke log hamare paas aane lage apne kahaniyan leke (Ever since we spoke to WSS, people from other villages began to approach us with their stories),” says Munni.
In September 2016, armed with these stories, the girls first approached the Bilaspur high court through the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group.
Following this, the girls claim they are regularly harassed by the local police. On December 22, 2017, women from three villages, including Korcholi marched to the collector’s office in Bijapur to complain about sexual harassment and beating of 20 women allegedly by security forces a day earlier. A week later, Suneeta and Munni met with police officials to follow up on the complaint.