NGO in dock over ‘dead’ girl
Sent to NGO for six-month training, 20-year-old has been missing for four years
For four years,Department of Women and Child Development of the state government had no clue about the whereabouts of a 20-year-old woman that it had sent for a six-month vocational training course in 2010 at a rehabilitation centre in Hebbal .
The only ‘proactive’ move to locate the woman --Reshma -- on the part of the department was sending one letter after another by registered post to the New Dawn Rehabilitation Centre at V Nagenhalli in Hebbal, run by one Ruksana Hassan . No red flag was raised for all these four years even though Ruksana, and her husband UM Saeed Hassan, were arrested in 2009 following a Karnataka High Court directive in a habeas corpus case concerning her NGO.
The case goes back to 2010 when Reshma and 14 other inmates of the women’s home,were sent to the rehabilitation centre for a six-month vocational training course. The centre is headed by a woman called Ruksana Hassan, who is said to hold a post-graduate degree and has previously worked as a counsellor for women.
On completion of the training, only 13 inmates returned to the home, which is under the State Department of Women and Child Development. Two inmates, including Reshma and another woman, Priscilla, allegedly went missing. Inquiries later revealed that Priscilla had been lodged at another centre on Mysore Road.
After persistent efforts by department officials, the NGO head revealed Reshma had died in 2012. Officials, however, suspect it is not an open-and-shut case. They believe the NGO head is trying to conceal facts about the girl’s death. There are even doubts if the girl is really dead at all. In a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery, the North division police are in the final stages of exhuming the body.
“Repeated reminders were sent to Ruksana asking her to furnish details of Reshma’s whereabouts, as we had to submit a report to the government about inmates of the home,” said a source in the State Women and Child Development Department. All the correspondence was done through registered post. In December last year, the source said, they knocked on the doors of the city police, asking them to file a criminal case against Ruksana.
Ruksana then reportedly sent a photocopy of certain medical records, claiming they were Reshma’s, but did not send any original documents. Ruksana claimed Reshma died a natural death in 2012 following treatment for anaemia at a private hospital. As per the rules, Ruksana should have handed the body over to the State Women’s Home. “Neither was the body sent to us nor did Ruksana inform us about Reshma’s death,” the source said.
There are no documents or records either to show whether an autopsy had even been performed. Ruksana, however, contends the final rites were performed in accordance with Reshma’s religion. “We have urged the police to summon Ruksana and show us where Reshma has been buried so that her body can be exhumed,” the source said. The case now hinges on forensic tests which can provide accurate results as long as the corpse is not more than three years old.
Hebbal police refused to divulge details of the case, but stated the body would be exhumed soon.
NGO had a dubious past
The superintendent of the home has been suspended pending departmental inquiry for sending inmates to an NGO which had been raided by the police earlier.Police had raided the NGO in 2009 for illegally detaining 56 inmates following a High Court directive. Ruksana and her husband had been arrested and later released on bail.
For four years,
The only ‘proactive’ move to locate the woman --
Now, it has come to light that the then 20-year-old girl is dead. The department has suddenly got ‘vigilant’ enough to file an FIR against Ruksana for the disappearance of the girl and for not informing the department of her death. Police plan to exhume a body, purported to be that of Reshma’s, for forensic tests to ascertain the exact cause of her death.
The case goes back to 2010 when Reshma and 14 other inmates of the women’s home,were sent to the rehabilitation centre for a six-month vocational training course. The centre is headed by a woman called Ruksana Hassan, who is said to hold a post-graduate degree and has previously worked as a counsellor for women.
On completion of the training, only 13 inmates returned to the home, which is under the State Department of Women and Child Development. Two inmates, including Reshma and another woman, Priscilla, allegedly went missing. Inquiries later revealed that Priscilla had been lodged at another centre on Mysore Road.
After persistent efforts by department officials, the NGO head revealed Reshma had died in 2012. Officials, however, suspect it is not an open-and-shut case. They believe the NGO head is trying to conceal facts about the girl’s death. There are even doubts if the girl is really dead at all. In a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery, the North division police are in the final stages of exhuming the body.
“Repeated reminders were sent to Ruksana asking her to furnish details of Reshma’s whereabouts, as we had to submit a report to the government about inmates of the home,” said a source in the State Women and Child Development Department. All the correspondence was done through registered post. In December last year, the source said, they knocked on the doors of the city police, asking them to file a criminal case against Ruksana.
Ruksana then reportedly sent a photocopy of certain medical records, claiming they were Reshma’s, but did not send any original documents. Ruksana claimed Reshma died a natural death in 2012 following treatment for anaemia at a private hospital. As per the rules, Ruksana should have handed the body over to the State Women’s Home. “Neither was the body sent to us nor did Ruksana inform us about Reshma’s death,” the source said.
There are no documents or records either to show whether an autopsy had even been performed. Ruksana, however, contends the final rites were performed in accordance with Reshma’s religion. “We have urged the police to summon Ruksana and show us where Reshma has been buried so that her body can be exhumed,” the source said. The case now hinges on forensic tests which can provide accurate results as long as the corpse is not more than three years old.
Hebbal police refused to divulge details of the case, but stated the body would be exhumed soon.
NGO had a dubious past
The superintendent of the home has been suspended pending departmental inquiry for sending inmates to an NGO which had been raided by the police earlier.Police had raided the NGO in 2009 for illegally detaining 56 inmates following a High Court directive. Ruksana and her husband had been arrested and later released on bail.
