On 20th August, 2018, Ranu Nagatra, a 23 year old Dalit woman who studied at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Girls College in Seoni, MP, was allegedly murdered by a man named Anil Mishra, age 38 years. Anil Mishra’s surname reveals that he is a Brahmin, though this has not been explicitly stated in news reports. Ranu Nagatara was a resident of Phulwari village and in her final year of B.A. She had been working as a domestic worker at Anil Mishra’s house to make ends meet for her family after her father’s death.
Mishra had repeatedly harassed her while she was working at his house, according to reports. Ranu Nagatra filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. Six months later, while Ranu Nagatra was on her way to college ,Mishra was waiting for her on his bike near the Kotwali police station.
They had a conversation on that location, after which he reportedly got furious, dragged her by the hair, pushed her on the roadside, and murdered her in broad daylight. He bashed her head with a big stone lying nearby. It is reported that Mishra had made numerous attempts to pressure her into withdrawing her complaint, and she had refused. Ranu Nagatra died on her way to the hospital. We pledge to never forget.
The act of seeking justice for workplace harassment led to further harassment, intimidation and even murder of the young woman reporting it. Mishra’s pressure tactics and threat to withdraw the sexual harassment report did not deter Ranu Nagatra Ranu Nagatra did not withdraw the report and we stand in solidarity with Ranu Nagatra for reporting harassment, not giving into fear and speaking their truth.
This points to not only the tactic of victim blame employed by the harasser, but also the negligence of the police authorities in protecting a victim from the aftermath of raising her voice. Mishra had previously been arrested on the sexual harassment complaint, but was released on bail, and his trial was pending in court. District Superintendent of Police Vivek Raj, said that Mishra seemed to be a ‘jilted lover’. Media reports too furthered a narrative of justifying this violence and murder by erasing his actions. He was not referred to as the murderer and sexual harasser, but instead the ‘jilted lover’ seeking ‘revenge’.
Revenge murder means that the victim did something which resutled in an action that was justified. ‘Revenge’ implies that it was in reaction to another act. This narrative implies victim blame. That ‘she asked for it’, that this happened despite his repeated attempts.. The caste of the perpetrator was not reported, and invisibilized in the larger public understanding of this case.
Caste based sexual violence is systemic.
Invisibilising the caste of the perpetrator invisibilises the nature of the harassment itself. The harassment was committed by a male Brahmin employer at a job that was crucial for Ranu’s family’s survival. He commanded power not just within the workplace but over her family and community as well, being an upper-caste person from the same village. He harassed a young, Dalit woman while she was at work, knowing that there was a power disparity between them. These are not “romantic advances” but rather an abuse of power and an attempt at exploitation. To invisibilise this crucial dynamic is to shift the take away the accountability of the perpetrator.
Ranu Nagatra is being blamed for saying ‘no’, and phrases such as ‘jilted lover’ imply that it is justified for the man to inflict violence in retaliation. Anil Mishra’s status as a Brahmin man is what enabled him to inflict this violence in order to punish a Dalit woman for daring to say no and for filing a complaint.
Invisibilizing caste and power when they are the very reasons why she was harassed and murdered, is victim blame.
References:
https://scroll.in/latest/891232/madhya-pradesh-man-allegedly-stones-dalit-student-to-death-after-being-accused-of-sexual-harassment
https://www.newsclick.in/woman-killed-allegedly-accused-refusing-withdraw-sexual-harassment-case-against-him
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/jilted-lover-bludgeons-woman-madhya-pradesh-1319164-2018-08-20
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2020/dec/15/the-missing-ideal-ofintersectionality-2236263.html
