Sexual Violence and Impunity in Bastar

The state is in a renewed drive to "clean" Chhattisgarh of Naxalites. The large-scale combing operations have meant pillaging and looting of settlements, and mass sexual violence perpetrated on inhabitants of Peddagalur, Kunna and Nendra, among others, over the last six months. Victims and human rights groups are fighting an uphill battle to ensure that security forces and vigilante groups be held accountable for their crimes, and another reign of terror with impunity, like Salwa Judum, be stopped in its tracks.

A cloak of silence continues to surround the subject of sexual violence by security troops; whether in Chhattisgarh, in Kashmir or in Manipur. This is evident, once again, in the silence in the mainstream national media over the recent episodes of mass sexual violence against Adivasis by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police in the conflict zone of Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

Three separate incidents occurred in Peddagalur of Bijapur District between 19 and 24 October 2015, in Kunna of Sukma District and almost simultaneously in Nendra of Bijapur District between 11 and 14 January 2016, whilst troops occupied the villages during combing operations.