First recorded complaint against Jarawa man leaves Indian police stumped

8 years ago

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Geneticists unanimously described the Jarawa as “the most enigmatic people on our planet”. There are about 400 of them who presently populate the South Andaman Island. The Jarawa are believed to have migrated from Africa about 50,000 years before.

The government of India considers the Jarawa—last remnant of a Paleolithic-era civilization—as one of their most prized possessions.

Jarawa are dark skinned and small in stature. Until 1998, they lived in complete cultural isolation and shot outsiders with steel-tipped arrows if they came too close.

Over time, the Jarawa and the government had agreed to peacefully coexist. The government took steps to minimize contact between the Jarawa and outsiders in light of the unfortunate fate that befell the aboriginal people in other countries. Such isolated groups lack immunity and easily contract deadly diseases.

Outside contact isn’t, however, completely forbidden. The locals trade food for crabs and fish that the Jarawa people harvest. Outreach workers visit the tribe’s camps. The Jarawa are even treated for ailments at a hospital.

But the law enforcement agencies weren’t prepared for the complaint registered at a station in November 2015. Witnesses willingly came forward to testify the murder of a 5-month-old baby. The baffled police, for the first time in history, contemplated arresting a Jarawa on the suspicion of murder.

The police believe that a light-coloured baby boy may have been born out of an illicit relationship to an unmarried Jarawa woman.

M. Janagi Savuriyammal, a 24-year-old tribal welfare officer, was alerted first about the birth of a mixed-race baby.

The tribe is believed to have openly carried out ritual killings of infants born to widows or fathered by outsiders.

Dr Ratan Chandra Kar, a government physician who wrote a memoir about his work with the Jarawa, described a ritual where the baby would be breastfed by each of the tribe’s lactating women before being strangled by one of the tribal elders to maintain “the so-called purity and sanctity of the society”. According to New York Times (NYT) the doctor said that he was aware of at least seven such cases in his 12 year tenure.

Savuriyammal had pursued the elders of the tribe to not harm the infant. She had even posted a social worker near the camp to keep an eye on the activities. Five months had passed. But the inevitable happened. She received a call from her staff member about the baby’s disappearance.

Two witnesses, both women, told the police that they’d earlier seen a Jarawa man called Tatehane drinking liquor with an outsider who had entered the reserve illegally. Tatehane reportedly slipped into the mother’s hut and took the baby while she was still asleep. The witnesses later found the baby’s drowned corpse on the beach.

Savuriyammal filed a criminal complaint with the police. They were unsure whether or not to convict the tribesman.

Authorities arrested two non-tribal men identified from the criminal complaint—a 25-year-old who is believed to have fathered the child by raping the woman and a man who gave Tatehane liquor. The latter was accused of abetting murder and interfering with aboriginal tribes.

But they did not arrest Tatehane even though he was accused of murder in the complaint. South Andaman’s police superintendent Atul Kumar Thakur, who is overseeing the investigation, told TOI that instead of arresting Tatehane they’ve appealed for guidance from the department of tribal welfare.

“When Inspector Hassan requested a tribal elder to lead him to the child’s body, the man said that he had only carried it deep into the jungle, where tribal tradition dictates bodies should be left for months, until dry bones can be retrieved. When the inspector pressed harder, the elder looked at him, saying the baby was no longer in that place, but had joined his ancestors in another place”, said Savuriyammal according to NYT.

“If I give the body to you, the world will start shaking, and we will all die,” Savuriyammal quoted the elder according to NYT.

The police superintendent told TOI that it was straightforward enough from a constitutional perspective. “Nobody is above the law. On the other hand, Indian law also accords special rights to vulnerable social groups, like castes and tribes,” he said.