Murder most foul. Who killed Sister Valsa?

Mangalore Today / DHNS

Who killed Sister Valsa? Police claim villagers did, but the jury is still out on the real killers

Two years back when a journalist from a television channel went to interview Sister Valsa, a rights crusader who led an agitation against coal mafia in the foothills of Rajmahal in Jharkhand, he found to his dismay that she had an extra-cover of security, much akin to khadi-clad netas. Her chief security officer Paiseel Hembrum, carrying traditional bow and arrow, not only stopped him but told him tersely: “Take a U-turn and get lost. Or else…”

 

The journalist protested and contacted his colleague in Dumka, the second capital of Jharkhand. His friend replied over the phone: “Do as Paiseel says. Even the local police don’t dare to enter the area without the permission of Sister Valsa John.”

Such was the terror and writ of Valsa, which used to run in the area comprising several villages of Dumka and Pakur district in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana.

The 54-year-old teacher-turned-rights activist from Edapally village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, had come over to Jharkhand to provide her services to the tribal people and protect the forests of Rajmahal hill range which were being destroyed by the timber and the stone mines mafia.

Within few years, she became a ‘Godmother’ to the local villagers. They admired her for her philanthropy and respected her simplicity. But the mafia elements feared her for being a no-nonsense woman.

Single-handed, she made the Punjab based company – Panem Coalmines Ltd- distribute a compensation of Rs 24 crore after it opened its coalmine in Aalubera in 2006. She was the only link between the company and the tribals who were to be rehabilitated and compensated. A formula of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre was worked out and the largesse doled out to the villagers who relish hadia (home-made liquor) even during the day. But by being an intermediary, Valsa was unknowingly creating more enemies than friends. Some of her close aides started nursing high ambitions. One of them was Paiseel, son of Binoj Hembrum, the Parganait (a Santhali term for the Head of the village heads). Valsa used to stay at Binoj’s house, and had floated an outfit - Rajmahal Pahad Bachao Samiti.

Four months back, Paiseel and his wife had a fight over Valsa. Paiseel’s wife wanted to know for how many more years would an ‘outsider’ stay at their house. To douse the fire, Valsa shifted to the house of Sona Ram Hembrum, a little away.

In the meantime, Panem decided to start mining operations on another coal block at Amrapara in over 1,218 hectares. Again, a compensation for land acquisition was to be finalised. This time, the villagers wanted a ‘direct deal’, with no role for Valsa.

Saddened by this, she left for her native place in Kerala. Before returning to Jharkhand in November, she told her brother N J Baby that she was facing threat to her life and could be eliminated any day. Baby’s worst fears came true on November 15 late night when around 50 persons carrying traditional arms forced entry into the house of Sona Ram where Sr Valsa was sleeping and hacked her to death.

Local villagers say that Valsa had sent an SOS to Amrapara police when the attackers laid siege to the house at 11.30 pm but the cops reached the spot in the wee hours of Nov 16.  What is more baffling is the fact that Panem officials were the first to visit the killing spot, within minutes after Valsa was hacked.

The news of her killing spread like wild fire. An uneasy calm prevailed for the next couple of days until the police claimed to have cracked the case. “Sr Valsa John was killed by villagers who took support of CPI (Maoists). Fifteen villagers were involved in the killing, while the rest of them were Maoists,” said Santhal Pargana IG of Police Arun Oraon.

 

 

Of the 15 persons arrested, one of the accused was Paiseel Hembrum, who, till recently, was her main bodyguard, and was, therefore, well aware of Valsa’s movements and daily routine. The second prime suspect Edwin Murmu is a rape accused. He is said to have joined the conspirators to kill the nun as she had gone to Amrapara police station to lodge an FIR against him on November 8 for raping her maid servant. Edwin has, however, told the police that he had an illicit relationship with the maid, and was therefore miffed with Valsa for implicating him in rape case.

The entire plot to eliminate Valsa was actually hatched when she had gone to Kerala four months back. “The villagers had contacted the local unit of CPI (Maoist) when she went to her native place in Ernakulam. She was opposing the entry of Maoists in the Panem Coalfields area in Pakur district. She used to organise supervision meetings with villagers and officials of the company regularly. But Paiseel and Prem Turi (another accused) did not want Sr Valsa to act as a bridge between the company and the villagers. They wanted to deal directly with the  company. When she visited Kerala some months ago, they contacted the Maoists to eliminate her,” said the IG.

The accused persons were produced in Pakur court on November 21, which remanded them to judicial custody.



Mining mafia behind murder, says brother

Sr Valsa used to talk about the grudge of mining mafia in the region against her, remembers N J Baby, her brother who resides at Ernakulam district in Kerala.

“Valsa played a leading role in forming Rajmahal Pahad Bachao Andolan (RPBA) which fought with the mining company, Panem Coalmines Ltd, for the rights of tribals in the region,” Baby told Deccan Herald. RPBA and the company decided that all mining allied jobs would be given to tribals.

This denied an opportunity to various mafias in the area to give such jobs to their men and collect money, said Baby.

However, the immediate cause of the murder of the nun was her interference in a rape case involving friends of the son of the tribal chief. Valsa helped the victim file a complaint with the police and to speed up investigation.

This angered the accused. But there seems to be a larger conspiracy behind the attack. Unless the conspirators are brought to book, the sacrifice of Valsa would be wasted, Baby said.


Unanswered ...

1. Sr Valsa was always surrounded by bodyguards armed with traditional weapons. Why no one was there to protect her at the time of the incident?
 
2. How could Panem Coalmines officials reach the spot minutes after the killing, while the Amrapara police arrived at 5 am next day.
 
3. Were Maoists responsible for the killing? Usually, they organise Jan Adalat before meting out
punishment.
 
4. Why Valsa shunned media? Were her dealings with the coal company transparent?

5. Police claimed to have found no diary in Valsa’s room, but DH Correspondent found one lying there (see pix) which had minute details of everything going on.


Eyewitness account.

‘She wailed but none came to her rescue’


Munshi Hembrum, father of Sona Ram Hembrum, into whose house Sister Valsa had moved in recently, was an eye-witness to the ghastly murder on November 15 midnight.

 

Munshi Hembrum, Sr Valsa’s host, giving an eyewitness account of the gory incident over phone to an interpreter.A hard-core tribal, who could not speak either Hindi, English or Bangla, spoke to Deccan Herald in Santhali language recounting the nightmarish experience. His version was translated into Hindi by a local villager: “Sister Valsa used to stay at the house of Binoj Hembrum, the Parganait (the Head of the village heads). It’s barely 50 yards from my house. She had floated an outfit - Rajmahal Pahad Bachao Samiti, and worked from Binoj’s residence.

But after a tiff between Binoj’s son Paiseel and his wife over the ‘prolonged stay’ of Valsa in their house, Sister shifted to my house, which is the last hutment on Rajmahal hills.

On that fateful night of November 15, I had gone off to sleep early. However, I got up at 11.15 pm when my son Sona Ram Hembrum, who works as a machine operator for Panem Coal­mines, returned home.

He was changing clothes when we found that nearly 45 to 50 persons had surrounded my house. It was completely dark as there was no power and we had put out the lamp too. Suddenly five people trooped inside shouting, “Where is Valsa?” As I said I had no idea, they thrashed me and moved towards Sona Ram’s room where he was changing. Sona said, “I have just returned after completing my duty. I have no idea.” He too was thrashed.

‘Got her!’

In the commotion, Valsa, who was sleeping in the adjacent room, sensed something was fishy. She perhaps sent an SoS to Amrapara police. But even before anyone could react, one of the intruders entered her room and shouted, ’Mil gayi. Yahan hai Valsa (Got her. Here is Valsa).’

Two more persons, who were carrying daon (a sharp-edged weapon similar to sword) trooped in. We could hear Valsa screaming for help, but within seconds they hacked her to death. Blood splashed onto the walls of the tiny room (7 feet x 5 feet) where she was sleeping. Once they we­re sure that she was dead, they came out and shouted slogans, ‘Inquilab Zin­dabad’. “Neeche dekho. Chehra dekhne ka koshish karoge to tumko bhi Valsa ke tarah kaat denge. (Keep your eyes downward. If any one tries to look at our face or identify us, he will be cut in­to pieces like Valsa),” another marau­d­er, who had not covered his face, sho­u­ted.

Valsa was lying in a pool of blood. Everything was over in a few minutes. Our life was shattered. When we tried to find out why no one came out to rescue her, we were told that groups of four marauders each were guarding the houses of nearby villagers.

Since then, we are living in constant fear. My son Sona Ram too has not gone to office after that fateful night, as he fears that he too might be killed for giving shelter to Valsa.”

 

Courtesy: Deccan Herald