She Is Undaunted!

 

She Is Undaunted !

A small town girl, Radha carrying dreams and hopes in her heart moved to the city full of opportunities to pursue her higher education. Just like thousands of children, she too had accommodated herself in a double sharing homestay PG. Coming from a small town crowd, rush, commotion, chaos, traffics, pollution, public harassments, molestation, robbery, congestion of Delhi were all so new, unusual and unprecedented for her. It’s not that she was not aware of it. It’s just that she had never seen all these happening blatantly and unabashedly.

In these few months, she witnessed types of harassments and in the course of time she herself became the victim of sexual harassment.

Fest season was close, it was a hectic time in college. Radha being an active and happening student was in the organizing team and had to work a little extra with her team to ensure the success of the event. On the advice of her friend, Karishma she has started commuting from bus as she learns that metro consumes comparatively more time than bus from her PG to her college. After finishing all the arrangements for the day, she headed towards the bus station.

Again, she saw those set of boys who were more like adult men gawking at her. It has been a common thing for her now, the moment she glances at them, she finds them smirking at her. She avoids eye contact because every time she looks at them they are already looking at her in the most erroneous manner possible. They don’t take the same bus as hers but still she has been noticing them on the same bus stop at the same time when she arrives for four days incessantly. But she cannot do anything about it. Neither can she file a complaint against guys gawking at her. It does not seem so rational. Nor can she rebuke at them because she is aware of the repercussions caused after talking to stranger boys of Delhi. She is accustomed to ignore.

After the successful conduct of the event she had organized, she got a bit sick and frail. She took leave from college for few days. Little did she know it was making those guys more desperate for her. We start longing for that person even more when they are out of our sight. That seemed to be the case for those audacious guys. Its not that those guys aren’t seeking other girls in the station or anywhere else in Delhi. It’s just that Radha is easily and regularly found so they are acquainted to her.

A week later, she resumed her classes. Although, she was still feeling a little low. But she cannot skip her lectures so she had to go. In this one week, she was so safe and sound inside her room that she nearly forgot there are guys who are chasing girls, she forgot that it is unsafe for her to move out in the streets in the dusk. After lectures, she and her friends had to prepare for the seminar which is going to be held three days later. At 5pm, they departed from the college. Radha and her friend Malini decided to do the rest preparations at Malini’s place. Radha texted her roommate Shikha that she will be late today for the same.

After the work finished she realized it has already turned dark outside. She thought to buy a family pack chocolate ice cream and a bottle of Nutella for Shikha and herself. As soon as she came out of the store, she felt a hand trying to pull her bag. When she turned back to see who it is, a man was standing behind him. Before she could discern the features of his face, he pressed a cloth against her nose. A car arrived immediately, the door opened and a man inside the car pulled Radha’s hand. The other man also sneaked in the car. For such direful incidents, like many other apprehensive girls, Radha also carries a pepper spray in her bag. But before she could manage to find her bag, the boy sitting next to her sprayed a little propofol on her face and tied her hands and legs.

After Malini and Radha departed from the college, those four acquainted guys followed them. Such trivial men are no less in Delhi. They keep venturing day and night to pick their preys to satisfy their lust. They seem to be so sex deprived that they consider every woman as their gratification source.

After an hour of drive, the car stopped. She was conscious now. Two men dragged her out of the car and took her to a room. The other two men also came out of the car and followed them. They stayed outside the door to guard the room. The other two men untied her hands and legs. Radha cannot manage to escape. She cannot hit them both and run outside because two muscular men are guarding the door. The bag which has her pepper spray is nowhere to be found. She does not have any weapon or any sharp object to defend herself. She is not so herculean to fight against two powerful men.

“Please leave me, I have done nothing wrong to you. Please I request you. Please let me go, if you do so, I will never let anyone know about this. I will not even file a complain. Please, I am someone’s daughter. You too have a mother or sister.” She pleaded politely because she has not learned violence.

“With so much effort we got a prey today after so many months. Do you think we will let you go so easily?”

Tears came out of her eyes. She had no courage to scream. She wished she was deaf because what she heard was so ruthless. But what she was about to experience that was inhumane and hard to express in words.

“Okay we will let you go” he came a little closer “but before that you will have to do us a favor for which we have brought you here. Everything comes with a price.”

She has heard of incidents where a girl is kidnapped, gang raped and then kept secretly and being used everyday. She has also heard of incidents where a girl is raped and then killed to erase evidences. She lost her hope. She accepted the fact that her life has came to an end. All those dreams she had carried in her sensitive heart are going to be shattered. The dreams to achieve big are now turning into a mirage. She wanted her mother. She wanted fresh air. She wanted to move out of her. But all these wishes went in vain. But she was not willing to give up. She wanted to fight till her last breath.

The boy who was holding her hands slid his hands to her hair and then tried to grab her neck. The other guy came closer to her and curled her up in his arms. She jerked. This infuriated them. Guys hate it when they are trying to make love to a girl and then the girl refuses. Though, this was not love but sexual harassment. But people who are doing wrong always think they are doing right. If they were aware of doing wrong, why would they do it?

They threw Radha on the bed. One boy went closer to her while the other boy started to unbutton his shirt.

“I am on my periods. I beg you. I cannot bear the pain.” She said in a quavering voice.

“Then it is surely something new for us.” He said excitingly to his friend and undressed himself and her.

The moment she felt his part moving inside her, she screamed out loud. Every girl has a fictional imagination of her own where she dreams about her ideal partener, about her first kiss, her first crush and her first special night. This too was a special night for her but special in the most unpleasant manner ever. This was not how she had thought of giving up her virginity. The boys confused her screams with orgasm. They were finding pleasure in which Radha was finding immense pain. After the two guys were done, they guarded the door and the other two guys entered the room and did their part and then they repeated and then locked the room. She was left alone in the room with her pain. Radha became the victim of a new gang rape case in Delhi.

Whereas, Shikha was really worried as it was already 10pm and the PG gate has been closed. She called Radha a lot of times but her phone was switched off. She called Malini.

“Hello, Malini? Why is Radha not picking up the call? Is she still at your place?”

“No! She left 3 hours ago. She should have reached by now. Hasn’t she?”

“No, she has not reached. Her phone is switched off. What should I do now? The warden is inspecting the rooms.”

“Oh my God, where is she? Is she even safe? Oh my God. I am so scared. You should tell the warden.”

“Yeah I should.”

“Yeah and then please inform me. Hope she is safe.”

“Hnnn”

Shikha went downstairs to the reception. The warden noticed her fear. She asked – “What happened Shikha? Is everything okay?”

“Ma’am, Radha has not reached yet.”

“What! It’s 10pm! Call and ask her.”

“Ma’am her phone is switched off. She texted me that she will be coming till 8pm. But her last seen on whats app is showing 7:47pm.”

Suddenly Radha’s mother’s call came to Shikha. She looked at the warden hesitatingly.

“Pick up the phone. If she asks about Radha, tell she is in the mess and her phone’s battery’s charge is down. Don’t tell her this.”

Shikha received the call. “Hello, Namaste Aunty.”

“Namaste beta, why is Radha’s phone switched off from so long?”

“Aunty her phone’s battery is down. She didn’t charge. She took a nap after coming from college. Forgot to charge.”

“Okay, where is she?”

“Aunty she just woke up, she is in the mess. She has just gone.”

“Okay Beta. Tell her to call me once she is back. Take care.”

“Hanji aunty, bye.”

She hung up the call.

“We cannot tell her parents right now. Let me go to the police station and file missing complain. Don’t tell it to anybody right now. Lock your room and switch off your phone as well. We will find her till the morning. This is a matter of concern and the matter of PG’s reputation as well. For the first time this is happening in my PG.”

The warden went to the nearest police station and filed the complain. The Police officer assured her that they will find her soon. They circulated it to all the police stations of Delhi and NCR and asked the warden to go.

Radha could not move from the bed out of pain. She lost her virginity, her self respect, her dignity, her hopes, her everything. She lost her willingness to live and face the world. She fell asleep.

Hours later, she woke up and found herself on the same bed naked. She was alone in the room. The bedsheet had stains of blood, semen and urine. She wobbled and somehow managed to stand. The door was locked. She scanned the room. Her clothes were lying on the floor and so was her bag. The ice cream was eaten. Her phone was missing. Her wallet was in the bag but her money was gone. Her pepper spray, books, pens, lip balm and the Nutella were still there. She came up with a plan. Despite losing all her hopes, she still had a ray of hope which can escape her. She locked the door from inside, wiped the blood and semen from her body with the bedsheet and wore her clothes. There were bruises on her face, arms and legs. Her hairs were tangled. She shoved things in her bag and took the pepper spray in her hand. This was her weapon and lifeguard for now.

An hour later, the boy knocked on the door. “Why have you locked the door? Open!” The boy shouted.

She took the pepper spray and her bag and walked towards the door. She unlocked it and hid behind the door. The moment the guy spotted her, she sprayed pepper spray on his eyes. He shrilled with pain. The other boys came running after hearing his voice. At once, Radha sprayed the pepper spray in their eyes and they fell off screaming in pain. They could not see anything. She sprayed it once more to intensify the pain and then ran out of there. She had no time to search for her phone because life is more important than a phone right now. Besides, losing phone is no big deal in Delhi.

She was already new to Delhi. The only place she knew was the route from her PG to her college. There was no autorickshaw to be found. She ran more and then found a rickshaw. She told Rickshaw vale bhaiya to take her to her PG.

 It was about 9 am in the morning. Neither Shikha nor Malini attended college today. Instead, Malini was called in the PG by the warden.

Radha had no money to give to Rickshaw vale bhaiya. She went to the PG’s guard to borrow money. He called the warden. The warden came and hugged Radha with tears in her eyes and paid Rickshaw vale bhaiya. In a moment, Shikha and Malini arrived and hugged Radha. Before the warden could ask Radha of her situation, she shrieked loudly and fell on the floor. Shikha and Malini consoled her. The warden informed the police that Radha has came back. Radha told everything that had happened to her and could not stop crying. The warden, Shikha and Malini were taken aback. Radha insisted to file another complain asap as right now those men could be found and arrested. The warden agreed but still asked her to maintain privacy.

Radha took the police to the same location and those four guys with itchy eyes were still there. Those men were arrested and there was no evidence needed because everything was in front of their eyes. Radha found her phone back.

Radha managed doing all this so bravely even though her body cannot respond so fast. The warden took her to a gynecologist and told her Radha’s situation. Radha was scared. Warden consoled her by saying that she will pay for her abortion. “Don’t worry Radha, you are back, that’s more important.” But Radha was more worried about STD than pregnancy. She underwent few tests.

 “There is no STD. She is safe. I am so proud of you. I am sure your parents too will be proud of raising a warrior like you.” She prescribed medicines to Radha.

 Radha talked to her mom but kept this thing hidden from her as told by her warden to prevent the reputation of the PG. She took out the bottle of Nutella from her bag and gave it to Shikha. Both cuddled and cried for hours.

Rumors are spread like fire in the forest. These things cannot be hidden. Almost every girl was aware of Radha’s incident now. They all promised to keep it as a secret. But secrets are meant to be spilled just like promises are meant to be broken. Radha too wanted to expose the truth. Everyone was asking her. Her college friends, her professors, and she told everyone the truth even the principal. She told her parents as well the next day. They appreciated her bravery and suggested to not tell it to everybody. Radha rebelled.

Rape cases, molestation, harassment is something we are meant to keep confidential to prevent from being offended, mocked, humiliated by the society. But does a victim deserve to be offended, mocked and humiliated for what she/he is not responsible?

Radha made a decision. “Ma’am, I am so thankful to you for supporting me in this. But I am so sorry to tell you that I want to violate my promise. I survived from this and I want to be the voice of several unheard helpless girls of the country, of all those impotent victims who died before they could be given justice.”

“I am so proud of you. Very soon, everybody will be proud of you. I am sure what you are doing will create a history. I love you Radha. I am so grateful you became a part of us.” She hugged Radha.

Radha was called in the police station. She agreed to file a case against those criminals. The police appreciated her. The news was given to the journalist and it spread to the houses of all literate people in Delhi.

Radha won the case. Another news highlighted the victory of a victim! The bravery of an eighteen year old girl! The story of her valor and courage was told to every daughter. Her suffering became a lesson for every girl.

Her college decided to host a seminar on this issue and selected Radha to be the speaker.

“Hello everyone, I know you are all so sympathetic. But you know what, till now I was a simple girl named Radha. But now I am a girl who has got the title of a warrior. When this happened to me, I cursed God and said how can you do this to me? I have never done wrong to anybody. But today I thank God for all of this. If all of this would have never happened to me, I would never been an example to numerous helpless girls over there. I have no shame of being raped. Why should I have? Let those boys be ashamed of what they did, let their parents be ashamed of raising their child. If there is anyone to accuse me of seducing or enticing those guys. My people, I was wearing a suit that day, I was not wearing any revealing dress. So was my dress a reason? No! The reason is the uncontrollable lust of men. They perceive woman as sex objects who are for nothing but to satisfy their lust. Today, I stand here proudly and feel pride on myself. My parents take pity on me and say no one will ever marry a girl who has been raped. I tell them I don’t want to be married if someone’s looking for a virgin girl. Because if he needs a virgin wife, then he must also be a virgin husband. Will he be? Girls, don’t accuse yourself. Do not blame yourself because the day you take pride in yourself, everyone will take pride in you. Live freely, confidently without fears. Let’s smash patriarchy!”

Her words were published in the newspaper next day. She has framed this quote in her bedroom wall. “Everything happens for a reason. God has the best plans for us.”