A voice for the underbelly – Rathish Balakrishnan

While the country is still reeling at how circumstantial evidence almost ended Rajesh Talwar’s life, it is time to look at those who go through such ordeals everyday.

It is a busy morning. Friends and relatives have come home and you are negotiating with toddlers and teenagers to complete your daily chores. The maid is busy sweeping the bedroom and leaves as soon as you enter. You look for your expensive watch on the table and find it is missing. Right then – that instant – what are the odds that of all the fifteen people in your household, you suspect your maid to have taken it?

Everyday, individuals from the economically weaker sections of the society are charged by the police for a variety of crimes ranging from theft, drug peddling, prostitution and kidnapping. “These people are easy targets because no one comes to claim them if they are arrested. Moreover, they have previous criminal records due to an earlier innocuous arrest”, says Ushajee Peri who is part of the Alternative Law Forum, a collective of lawyers focusing on sustained legal interventions in various social issues.

While the law in its written form promises a fair chance to one and all, those who are responsible to enforce the same are influenced by same social stigma as the rest of us. In many cases, there are procedural violations with respect to how the charged were picked up, interrogated and how evidence against them have been recorded. Alternative Law Forum ensures that the procedures are followed with due diligence and that these cases are rightfully represented in the court.

How does ALF identify such cases? The collective organizes jail visits and talks to the accused who are under trial. Since they also work with members from these sections very closely, they receive written letters and requests through word of mouth regarding cases where their assistance is required. ALF also collaborates with NGOs, who, for instance, work with construction workers in matters requiring legal assistance.

In addition to litigation, ALF also conducted a variety of initiatives to improve legal awareness in the past. “But when you are faced with the prospect of arrest, it is difficult to act on all this information. The first instinct is to run”, she says while narrating an episode of a maid’s son who went missing for four years in order to avoid charges of manslaughter. Incidentally, the man returned after four years and was immediately arrested. The judge set a bail of 5,000 or a guarantee by someone who owns a sizable property to let him free. No one came forward and today he’s in jail.

Such victimization is not restricted to just weaker sections of the society anymore. People from all over the country across all economic classes are today arrested under the charge of terrorism – a charge that immediately kills any sense of sympathy or unbiased investigation. Ushajee shares how, in Udupi District, a woman standing in a bus stand was arrested because she looked suspicious and didn’t give conclusive answers to the police about her whereabouts. Thanks to the intervention by ALF, the woman was later freed. But many are not as lucky and are still trying to find their way out of the legal quagmire.

But aren’t arrests are based on past trends? It is well known that many children among the weaker sections of the society are involved in criminal activities, I counter. She agrees but adds that, “to take it for granted that such children will always be criminals only serves to push them down that path much harder. These children deserve a chance”.

A chance not just to be out of jail, or for a fair trial. But for a better life so that they are never suspected again.

Contact details:

http://www.altlawforum.org