NEW DELHI: Women's groups and women's rights activists across the country have urged the Supreme Court to ensure that investigations unearth what happened to Kausarbi, wife of Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was killed in a fake encounter in Gujarat, and Ishrat Jahan, another victim of a fake encounter in the State.

They have also called upon the National Commission for Women to examine all cases of custodial sexual violence in regions of conflict such as Kashmir, the northeast and Chhattisgarh.

"Political forces must not derail the investigations that could well indict the Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Gujarat," a joint statement issued here by several women's groups said. "Even as we await the decision of the Supreme Court on whether or not a CBI inquiry would be conducted into the fake encounter killings in Gujarat, we must turn our attention to critical aspects of the crime which do not appear to be finding due place in the public conscience, namely the question of what happened to Kausarbi, and the larger question of violation of women's rights in the context of this kind of impunity given to officers of the State. Today, hyper-nationalism and hyper-patriotism, coupled with total state impunity and draconian laws, are giving free rein to gross human rights violations across the country. Sexual violence against women is becoming a central aspect of such aggression," the statement said.

In Gujarat, Kausarbi was killed. In ChhattisgarhAdivasis were dubbed "naxal sympathisers" or "sangham members" and killed, their houses were burnt.

The signatories to the statement include Vani Subramanian of Saheli, writer; Farah Naqvi, historian; Uma Chakravarti, feminist historian, all Delhi-based;Bina Srinivasan, researcher in Vadodara; Jagori, North East Network, the Women's Centre (Mumbai), the Tamil Nadu Women's Forum and Sama of Delhi.

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