Tree Of Death

  • 2 weeks ago
Life in the sleepy village of Katra, an hour’s drive from Badaun, UP, was forever changed when a local family and their neighbours found two minor OBC girls hanged from a mango tree in the fields where they work. Photos of this scene—the 14-year-old and 11-year-old’s lifeless bodies swinging from the tree caused national and international furore, with even the UN condemning the crime and demanding swift justice. The initial autopsy found the minors were gang-raped; but still police tried to rule it a suicide, and CBI closed the case with a note that they believed the distraught fathers had murdered their daughters in an honour killing. Nine years later, the family continues, with their limited means, to seek justice for their daughters. “I do get sad and angry, but mostly I miss her,” says the 14-year-old girl’s mother.

Reporter: Avantika Mehta
Camera: Suresh K Pandey
Editor: Sudhanshu Pandey
Producer: Divya Tiwari

#JusticeForWomen #EndRapeCulture #WomenSafety #GenderJustice #HumanRights #RememberTheVictims #ViolenceAgainstWomen #StandWithSurvivors #India #Badaun #Badaun2014 #BadaunRapeCase #UN

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Transcript
00:009 years. A CBI closure report. An appending trial. That's the story of family from Badayun.
00:19In a small village in Uttar Pradesh, a family has been trapped in a cycle of grief, fear
00:26and injustice for nearly a decade. Savitri's world shattered on May 27, 2014, the day her
00:34husband discovered the lifeless bodies of their 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old
00:39niece, hanging from a mango tree just 600 meters from their home.
00:51The men who found their daughter's bodies now work in the same field, haunted by the
00:57memories.
00:58The case shocked the nation and even drew international attention.
01:22The suspects, Pappu Yadav and Urmesh Yadav, were arrested but later released on bail.
01:35Despite the initial uproar, the case has stagnated.
01:38The family has been waiting for justice for nine long years, their application still pending
01:43in Allahabad High Court.
02:12The only surviving niece is unaware of the tragedy that took her sister's life and her
02:21father remains afraid.
02:50With little money and no support from the state, the family has paid a high price for
02:54justice, financially and emotionally.
02:57The women in the village, especially Savitri Devi, live in a constant fear.
03:03They avoid leaving their homes after dark, knowing that the men responsible for the heinous
04:389 years have passed and the family is still waiting for justice, caught in a cycle of
05:00grief, fear and despair.
05:03Will justice ever be served?

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