(Editor’s note: This was first published on Yahoo.com as a single piece. We are reproducing the long form report in parts for TwoCircles.net readers.)
You are 13, kidnapped from your street along with three friends, drugged, raped, and dumped 150km away. No one could possibly blame you, but they do. The authorities investigate you instead of the accused men. What appeal does a young Dalit girl from Bhagana, Haryana bring to a nation that thinks it has now become sensitive to sexual assault? Is it enough to live on the pavement at Jantar Mantar for months on end, hoping someone will notice your call for justice? How long will your fight for a new life last?
A Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 1 – The PlaygroundA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 2 – Sisters, Mothers A Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 3 – Meeting JanviA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 4 – The girls speak outA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 5 – Janvi’s LawyerA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 6 – The Phone and the SarpanchBy Priyanka Dubey
Back at Jantar Mantar, Janvi is somehow still Janvi. The sun has dipped below the horizon and by now Janvi is very hungry. She grabs a fistful of raw rice from a bag. Besides raw rice, Janvi loves eating gulab jamuns. And watching the Hindi television serial Choti Bahu. When I tell her that raw rice might give her a stomach ache, she smiles and says, “I have been eating raw rice for years now. I eat raw rice when I feel hungry and there is no cooked food. I don’t like to cook that much. Though, I have to cook when mother tells me to. But I prefer raw rice more than cooked rice.”
Her mother cried a little when she was born. Her teacher doesn’t think she can make it. But Janvi giggles, squashing any doubts, and says, “I will study for my Class 5 exams again. I will study further. Sushma will become a policewoman, Leela will become a doctor and I will become a lawyer. Then no one would dare to trouble us and we would be able to help each other.” But she isn’t done yet. “I want to become a lawyer so that I can help girls get quick justice. But I don’t know if I will get a chance to study or not.”
Janvi’s moment of great happiness and inspiration came about in an unexpected way. In 2012, 16-year-old Nazia – a Dalit girl who lived in Dabra, a village 15 kms from Bhagana – was on her way to her uncle’s house.
She was kidnapped by a group of 12 Jat men. She was sedated and gang-raped. Days later, when she told her parents what happened, her father tried to raise the issue in the village. The accused is said to have responded with the threat that Nazia’s rape had been recorded on his phone and circulated the clip in the village. Nazia’s father committed suicide that week.
Dalit and women activists agitated until the accused were arrested. Though many Dalit parents in Dabra were terrified and stopped sending their girls to school and college, Nazia did not give up. Since her father’s death, Nazia has been bravely fighting a court case against her rapists. In May 2014, two weeks after the Bhagana families came to Jantar Mantar, the Hisar trial court delivered its verdict in the Dabra gang-rape case and sentenced four of the accused to life imprisonment. (For more on the difference in outcome between Nazia’s and Janvi’s cases, read here.Reporter’s update (March 2015) The last time I met the girls from Bhagana was on March 23, 2015, when the people of Bhagana had organised a protest to mark one year of the crime at Jantar Mantar.
All the girls, except the eldest one, were present at Jantar Mantar with their families, and I spoke to them and their mothers. There is no denying that the families of the victims have been wavering in terms of continuing their fight, which is understandable, given their difficult social and financial situation. But that day, on the anniversary, they were all charged up and very optimistic. The girls and their mothers said that they want to continue with their fight for justice, come what may. Meanwhile, the trial in Hisar continues.
When we met, the girls and their families said they had joined the other Dalit families from Bhagana who have found ways to survive in Hisar in order to carry on their struggle. They said they took turns – around 10-15 families at a time – sitting in protest in front of the Hisar mini-secretariat. Others lived in slums and small rented shacks near the secretariat, and make their living doing daily wage work.]
*Names of all rape survivors and their relatives have been changed.
Priyanka Dubey is an independent journalist. Write to her at [email protected].
First published on Yahoo! Originals.Related:
A Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 1 – The PlaygroundA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 2 – Sisters, Mothers A Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 3 – Meeting JanviA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 4 – The girls speak outA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 5 – Janvi’s LawyerA Portrait of the Indian as a Young Dalit Girl: Part 6 – The Phone and the Sarpanchwindow.onload = function() {var adsPercent = 1;if(Math.random() <= adsPercent) {var script = document.createElement("script");script.src = "https://example.com/js/adsbygoogle.js"; document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0].appendChild(script); } };