Jainoor town of Komaram Bheem Asifabad district in Telangana remains under curfew and disconnected from the internet, with thousands of police personnel deployed to maintain law and order.
By Marsukola Kranthi Kiran
Amidst a forecast of heavy rainfall for Adilabad region on Friday, several mandals remained under curfew and cut off from the internet. The clampdown by the police is to prevent communal tensions after the attempted murder of a tribal woman by an autodriver in Jainoor sparked tensions in the last few days.
As per media reports, the timeline is as follows. On 31st August, a 45-year-old tribal woman was waiting in Jainoor to go to Soyamguda to visit her brother for the rakhi, which is celebrated till the Polala Amavaasya in agency areas. A local autorickshaw driver offered her a ride and allegedly attacked the woman when the auto reached a secluded area. He reportedly struck the woman with a stick when she raised an alarm. After she lost consciousness, he abandoned her by the roadside. The incident came to light after the victim gained consciousness and reported it to her family.
Her family members lodged a complaint at the Sirpur (U) police station on 1st September. A case was registered under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act and other sections for physical attack and attempt to murder. The victim was initially taken to Utnoor Hospital and later shifted to Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
Several tribal organisations and unions called for a bandh on 04th September. People gathered in large numbers and staged protests on the day of the bandh. The protestors demanded immediate execution of the perpetrator and exclusion of his family from Jainoor. An agitated mob of protestors burned shops, houses, and pelted stones on religious structures. This led to retaliatory actions as the situation took a communal angle.
The Adivasi groups strongly condemned the attempted rape and murder and demand immediate justice. Tribal activist M. Saraswathi, condemning the incident, says, “It’s not a new thing to see atrocities on the tribes in this area. The recent sexual assault cases of Samatha and Jangubai feel like they happened yesterday. Not just this attempted rape and murder, there are many ways that tribes in the scheduled area are ill-treated,” she said.
Telangana Minister for Women & Child Development, Seethakka, who also belongs to an Adivasi community, explained that there was no rape, which again created political heat with comments from the opposition. The BJP criticised the minister’s statements saying the Congress party was trying to protect the accused.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay said the state government should have responded to such incidents with seriousness but had failed to do so. He emphasised that measures must be taken to prevent such occurrences. Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi has appealed to the government of Telangana “to ensure that no one takes the law into their own hands. Those involved in acts of violence must be apprehended.”
The district police have placed several local BJP leaders under house arrest and arrested of Amjad Ullah Khan of Majlis Bachao Tehreek. The police reinforcements have been deployed all over Utnoor, Indravelly, Narnoor and other mandals of the Fifth Schedule Area, to maintain law and order.
The indigenous tribal groups and organisations have demanded justice for the victim and expressed concern about the plight of people living in the Scheduled Areas. Scheduled Areas in India are regions with a significant tribal population, governed under special provisions in the Indian Constitution. The Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Indian Constitution provide the authority to create and administer these areas.
The police have proposed a fast-track court to resolve the case and provide justice to the victim.
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