She was 18 and full of zest. She had left her village in Assam and come to the Millennium City in search of a job to support her family after her father lost his job. But less than 24 hours after she got placed as a domestic help at an upscale condominium in DLF Phase-4, she was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside its premises.
Several protests and demonstrations demanding justice for the teen were held. An FIR was lodged and a Special Investigation Team was also constituted. But her death continues to remain a mystery till date.
Her name was Ranjitha. But how does the name matter? There are countless stories of rape, murder, molestation, racial discrimination and harassment of men and women from the Northeast in the National Capital Region — only their names differ.
Illtreated
Centre for Struggling Women (CSW) convener Maya John, who spearheaded the protests in the Ranjitha case, alleged that the police probe in the case shows “connivance” and is “dubious”.
“Just a few hours before her death, Ranjitha told her relatives that she did not want to stay with her employer. A few hours later, she was found dead. No suicide note was found. The prime witness has been summoned 3-4 times for recording his statement, but accused Rohit Mehta is yet to join the probe. Still there is no action, no arrests,” said Ms. John.
Working closely with NE women in Gurugram, Ms. John said that her interaction with them had revealed that they were being treated like second-class citizens.
“The local population and the police in Gurugram treat people from the Northeast like they do not matter. The locals are quite aggressive when dealing with them and the police also don’t support them. So, they stay together in ghettos where there is at least some sense of security,” said Ms. John.
Justice denied
People from the Northeast, who mostly work as domestic workers or in saloons and hotels, do not get justice in the local police stations in Gurugram, the activists believe.
“The Gurugram police seem to work in a typical manner when a crime is committed against a NE resident. They know that they are poor migrants and their family members will come to the city, stay for a day or two, claim the body or take the victim back home. There will be no sustained pressure to follow-up. There is initial protest and pressure, but these are working people and they cannot sit outside the police station daily. The Gurugram police play on this. A weak case is registered and sometimes a settlement is reached,” said Ms. John.
The situation is slightly better in Delhi, where thanks to strong NE students’ organisations, instances of crimes against the Northeast people are brought to the limelight and pressure is put on the police to take action.
'Greater voice in Delhi'
Yaisana Chanu, a Delhi University (DU) student, said that while Delhi has a culture of countering racism, sexism and discrimination, Gurugram has no such student movement to produce a “counter culture”.
She argued that this is one of the reasons why there are more cases of exploitation and oppression in the NCR: "as there is no continuous exposure of exploitation like there is in Delhi".
Some cases in Delhi were highlighted because students' organisations took them up, but this does not happen often in Gurugram and Noida, said Frazer Chongthan, another DU student.
“Due to sustained movements, the Delhi Police have been forced to be more responsive to the issues of the Northeast people, but most of their measures are cosmetic,” said Ms. John, adding that the Delhi Police were not in anyway ahead of their Gurugram counterparts on this front.
“In Delhi Police stations, there is apathy and unwillingness to break the language barrier. They conduct consultative sessions with NE students, but it remains confined to the level of DCPs and ACPs. The Gurugram police still seem to be working under the clutches of MNCs and local businesses,” said Hem Chandra Brahma, media co-ordinator of the North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS).
'Need sensitisation'
To make the Gurugram police more effective in dealing with cases of crimes against NE people, Ms. John had demanded the setting up of a dedicated Northeast cell and installation of CCTV cameras in every police station for greater transparency.
On the State government’s proposal to deploy NE police personnel on deputation in Haryana, Ms. John said: “It has its limitations. The entire force needs to be sensitised. Deployment of a few NE police personnel is not enough, many more complimentary measures need to be taken. Issues of NE people intertwine with those of the working class. Most of the migrants work in unregulated sectors and the labour laws are not effective, but the Haryana government does not seem bothered.”
National convener of NEFIS K. Chinglen said that even among the Northeast people migrating to the metropolis in search of jobs and education, there was a huge rich-poor divide. “The Northeast community and the local political leaders have reacted differently to the murder of Nido Tania, son of an Arunachal Pradesh politician in Delhi, and the death of Ranjitha. While even the Prime Minister was aware of the Nido case, we had to knock on every door to seek justice for Ranjitha,” said Chinglen.
Ms. John argued that people from the region must unite to battle the issues facing them. “They need to come together to form organisations to create a support system of their own. We floated a Gharelu Kamgar Union a few months ago and already 1,500 workers have joined it… It is a good sign,” said Ms. John.
An estimated 10,000 people from the Northeast are staying in Nathupur, Chakkarpur and Sikanderpur villages in Gurugram and are mostly employed in call centres, retail, and hospitality sectors
