Shoma Sen

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shoma Sen

• She used to live in a posh locality in Bandra during her childhood.

  

• During her teenage years, she was associated with the Vidyarthi Pragati Sangh (VPS) and read extensively about communism.

  

• She later moved to Nagpur so that she could help the women living in slum areas of Maharashtra.

• During her initial years in Nagpur, she taught English at the People’s Welfare Society (PWS) College in Indora, Nagpur. In the evenings, she used to conduct meetings with women (mainly Dalits) living in the Juni Mangalwari slums to discuss their concerns.

  

• When she was a member of a women’s organisation in Nagpur named Stree Chetna, she helped many girls financially and also sheltered them in her own house.

• Her husband, Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, was arrested in 2007 for alleged Maoist ties and acquitted in 2013.

  

• During her 40s, she had some differences with her husband and started living alone with her daughter in Nagpur.

  

• She has an experience of around 4 decades of teaching and later became the head of the English Literature department of the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University.

  

• On 6 June 2018, she was arrested by Pune Police in connection with Bhima Koregaon Violence (Elgar Parishad Case) which happened on 1 January 2018.

  

• Reportedly, several Hindu people belonging to the upper caste pelted stones at the Dalit crowd which gathered in Bhima Koregaon, Pune to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon which resulted in the death of one person and injuries to many people.

• Other than Shoma Sen, several noted human rights activists including Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Surendra Gadling, and Rona Wilson were also arrested in connection with the case and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.

• On 15 June 2018, she was suspended from her teaching position by Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. ^[1]Hindustan Times

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleged that she was an active member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) (Maoist) and attempted to organise a violent protest against the state.

• Her daughter once wrote in a news article that one of the police officers, investigating the case, fell to Shoma’s feet and told her that he was once her student. He also expressed regret over seeing her in jail.

• Several people from various women and Dalit organisations did regular protests to put pressure on the government and courts to release Shoma Sen and other arrested people.

  

• On 14 February 2020, her case was transferred from Pune, Maharashtra, to a special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai. On 21 September 2021, a court rejected Sen’s application for interim bail for medical reasons.

• On 5 April 2024, the Supreme Court of India gave her bail because no charges were framed despite six years of arrest and health complications (osteoarthritis, glaucoma, hypertension, and blood pressure) due to her old age.

  

• The conditions of her bail were that she shall not leave Maharashtra without the leave of the trial court, surrender her passport, inform her address to NIA, use only one mobile number intimated to NIA, and ensure that the phone remains active and charged around the clock.

• Other conditions included that she should keep her mobile phone’s location status (GPS) active, pair the phone with that of the NIA Investigating Officer to enable him to identify her exact location and report to the SHO of the police station within whose jurisdiction she shall reside, once in every 15 days.

• Shoma Sen has been a member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CDPR). She has also served as the Nagpur University Teachers Association (NUTA) president.

• She once filed a case in the Bombay High Court for an Adivasi (tribal) woman of Gadchiroli, who was raped in police custody, and later got justice for the victim.