Don't You Remember My Story?

OutlookIndia

In 2022, Rajasthan reported the highest number of rape cases in the country for the fourth year in a row, according to NCRB. The state led with 5,399 rape cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 3,690, Madhya Pradesh with 3,029 and Maharashtra with 2,904.  If the survivor belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, Section 12(4) of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act mandates compensation of Rs 5 lakh for rape cases and Rs 8.5 lakh for gang rape cases. Half of the amount must be provided once the case is registered and medical examinations are conducted. The Rajasthan law also includes provisions for comprehensive rehabilitation encompassing health care, education, and even housing and government employment if necessary. Due to negligence, however, survivors in Rajasthan are receiving neither timely compensation nor complete rehabilitation.  “In Rajasthan,” says rights activist Kavita Srivastava, a member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), “there are several cases where victims receive no rehabilitation. While media coverage might prompt some investigation, there is no follow-up once the initial attention fades.”  Reporter: Tarique Anwar Camera: Animikh Chakrabarty  Editor: Sudhanshu Pandey Producer: Divya Tiwari  Follow us: Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/ X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia  #RajasthanRapeCrisis #SCSTAct #JusticeDelayed #CompensationDenied #SurvivorRights #WomenSafety #EndSexualViolence #RehabilitationMatters #HumanRights #PUCL

Transcript

00:00Now my life is so bad that I can't say anything.

00:04I don't go out because I'm afraid that if something like this happens again, what will I do?

00:09You only tell me, brother. Will you throw me out of here today or tomorrow?

00:14Where will we go?

00:21In the heart of Rajasthan, a young woman's life stands still,

00:25haunted by a past too brutal to forget and a present too indifferent to care.

00:30This is Shabnam's story.

00:55On the way to Sannata, the taxi driver said that we won't go there.

01:02So we started walking.

01:05First, he pulled my daughter's dupatta.

01:08That saved us.

01:10After that, he pulled my hand.

01:13No matter how hard we tried, he didn't let go.

01:16I got hurt in my leg.

01:18Then I fainted.

01:20He took the jeep in front of the house where we lived.

01:27The tenant outside the house saw us in the car.

01:32He started shouting that he was taking the girl.

01:35But my mother didn't know that it was us.

01:38He followed us for a long time.

01:41Then he took us away.

01:43He beat us a lot.

01:45We fainted.

01:47He forced us to go with him.

01:50He took us to his house at 4 am.

01:54His brother-in-law and sister told him to take us to a quiet place.

02:00Otherwise, we will be trapped.

02:02So we did.

02:04Then he dropped us at Jeen Mata's place.

02:08There was a forest below.

02:10He dropped us there.

02:12A man on a bike saw us.

02:15He picked us up and gave us water.

02:18He asked us what had happened.

02:20We got scared and didn't tell him anything.

02:22Then we called the police.

02:24They came.

02:26They asked us what had happened.

02:30We were so scared.

02:32They told us that nothing had happened.

02:34They told us to go to our mother and leave us.

02:36In 2012, her life changed forever.

02:40She was brutally assaulted by two men,

02:42undergoing reconstructive surgeries.

02:44She thought that the nightmare would end

02:46with their imprisonment.

02:48But the horrors persisted.

02:50This time, inflicted by society

02:52and a system that was meant to protect her.

02:55At that time, everyone used to encourage us

02:57that we are with you.

02:59Nothing will happen.

03:01Even the district government supported us.

03:03They supported us so much that no one else did.

03:05No one in the world knew us.

03:07Still, they supported us.

03:09Seeing everyone's courage,

03:11we were alive.

03:13But what is the use?

03:15We can't even go out.

03:17We live inside the house.

03:19We are scared.

03:21If we go out,

03:23her family must know us.

03:25If they do something,

03:27what will we do?

03:29They told us that they would give us a house,

03:31a job,

03:33and pay for our education.

03:35But they didn't do anything.

03:37Just like the boy was punished,

03:39the guards also left us.

03:43Because of us,

03:45even our brother doesn't talk to our mother.

03:47He says,

03:49they defamed us.

03:51You must know the situation in the village.

03:53How people speak in the village.

03:57Even Basundra aunty didn't live.

03:59She said that she would get us a job,

04:01a house.

04:03But the moment she won,

04:05she forgot us.

04:09She used to come to meet us a lot.

04:11She used to say,

04:13we will do this and that for you.

04:15Don't worry.

04:17Even Phoolam Azad didi used to come here.

04:21But when the time for justice came,

04:23everyone left.

04:25No one came.

04:27At that time, I don't know why

04:29they came to support us.

04:31At 24, Shabnam's voice

04:33trembles with despair.

04:35For over a decade,

04:37she has battled depression, isolation

04:39and fear.

04:41How can we deal with this?

04:43Because our responsibility

04:45as a society is that

04:47the frame of mind

04:49which was there before,

04:51should go back to that.

04:53The way she was leading her life

04:55before this incident,

04:57before this offence,

04:59she should live that kind of life again.

05:01She should get that kind of love

05:03from her family,

05:05friends and society.

05:07She should live the life

05:09she deserved before this offence.

05:11The government

05:13and the courts

05:15cannot answer this.

05:17Our society will be the first to answer this.

05:21It is the responsibility of the government

05:23and the judiciary

05:25to create an environment

05:27in which

05:29the society should

05:31accept her

05:33with an open mind

05:35and treat her

05:37the way she was treated before.

05:39Her plea for justice goes beyond the courtroom.

05:41It extends to life.

05:43It extends to a life

05:45she can live without shame and fear.

05:47No one supports us.

05:49When we talk to the villagers,

05:51they say that she has so much money

05:53that she can buy land

05:55and live.

05:57But no one knows

05:59that we don't even have money to buy food.

06:01Two months ago,

06:03when we went to the village,

06:05we saw what happens

06:07in the village.

06:09How everyone speaks in front of us.

06:11Even if our mother gets married,

06:13what will that boy say?

06:15Either such a girl dies,

06:17or she herself dies,

06:19or she is killed.

06:21They don't get married.

06:23They get defamed. Who will marry them?

06:25In this case,

06:27I would like to tell you

06:29that there were six main accused.

06:31Two of the six were

06:33acquitted by the court.

06:35And four were acquitted

06:37by the court

06:39on the basis of suspicion

06:41of Girdarilal,

06:43Yograj, Radheshyam

06:45and Ruparam.

06:47The FIR was filed.

06:49After filing the FIR,

06:51on 26th July 2016,

06:53two accused were punished

06:55by the court.

06:57The police investigation

06:59was not very strict.

07:01During the investigation,

07:03the investigation was delayed.

07:05The accused got the benefit

07:07of the delay.

07:09The investigation should be

07:11carried out as soon as

07:13the crime occurs.

07:15But in this case,

07:17this did not happen.

07:19Properly,

07:21the investigation should be

07:23carried out as soon as possible.

07:27Today, Shabnam and her mother

07:29live in a dilapidated night shelter.

07:31Filthy, unsafe, exposed.

07:33Promises of rehabilitation

07:35remain unfulfilled.

07:37The state offered a temporary roof,

07:39but no safety, no dignity,

07:41no peace.

07:43You only tell me,

07:45if not today,

07:47then tomorrow.

07:49Where will we go now?

07:51There is no place to stay.

07:53There is no water,

07:55on top of that,

07:57any man comes at night.

07:59We don't sleep at night

08:01because of fear.

08:03What will we do?

08:05Despite the Supreme Court's

08:07ruling on rehabilitation

08:09and the rights of survivors,

08:11Shabnam's dreams of an education,

08:13a job and a future remain out of reach.

08:15Even basic needs like

08:17attending school are denied to her.

08:19This house was nearby,

08:21so she also refused.

08:23She said, no, we won't teach.

08:25She said, the media people

08:27will come tomorrow,

08:29our job will be lost.

08:31She is so scared that she

08:33even refuses to let us go there.

08:35She was not even writing

08:37the names of our nieces and nephews.

08:39So we said, we won't come here.

08:41Then we wrote the names.

08:43Several human rights activists

08:45have called for a systemic overhaul.

08:47The rehabilitation of rape survivors

08:49should be more than

08:51just empty promises.

08:53It's a riot.

08:55The stark reality in Rajasthan

08:57however reveals a system

08:59that abandons the very woman

09:01it should protect.

09:03It's better to die

09:05than to live like this.

09:07At least I have a life

09:09to listen to.

09:11It's better to die

09:13than to live like this.

09:15Rehabilitation was a

09:17very, very important part.

09:19Just like we had to fight

09:21with the criminal justice system,

09:23with the investigating agencies,

09:25with the administrative agencies,

09:27with the courts,

09:29we had to engage

09:31in a way that they understood,

09:33they were sensitive.

09:35At the same time, we also realized

09:37we had to fight the media,

09:39the public space,

09:41because there was so much of hostility.

09:43See, restoration of

09:45self-respect and esteem

09:47is very important

09:49and that is part of the process

09:51of rehabilitation, where restoration

09:53of confidence, restoration of self-respect

09:55and restoration

09:57of a community.

09:59It is not

10:01totally

10:03rebuilding lives, which is what

10:05we had clearly stated,

10:07that there may have to be livelihood support

10:09that you have to provide.

10:11And self-confidence and

10:13self-respect doesn't just come

10:15with money, it comes with some other kind of work.

10:17So it's a whole,

10:19you have to look at it holistically.

10:21A struggle for justice, as you rightly

10:23said, is not just about punishments.

10:25The struggles

10:27on the road

10:29should be about restoration,

10:31rehabilitation. Rehabilitation

10:33does not come up from the streets.

10:35Rarely does

10:37it come up and

10:39rehabilitation is not a

10:41policy which

10:43governments have worked upon. It's a very big

10:45lacunae in our

10:47whole understanding of

10:49actually what happens to

10:51sexual violence survivors.

10:53We also see that the victim

10:55is first

10:57affected by the accused,

10:59who commits sexual harassment

11:01or rapes.

11:03Apart from that, in our society

11:05our victims

11:07are harassed by their families,

11:09by their own friends,

11:11by the people they live with.

11:13So for that, an awareness drive

11:15is the responsibility of the government

11:17or is it the responsibility of the administration

11:19to do it?

11:21At that time, everyone burnt us, everyone supported us.

11:23At that time, we didn't know

11:25what kind of life would be like.

11:27Here, our uncle and aunt

11:29also say that she was raped,

11:31she was raped,

11:33she was raped,

11:35we won't let her stay at home,

11:37we won't let her stay at home.

11:39Where will we go?

11:41If they throw us out of here,

11:43where will we go?

11:45There is no other way than death.

11:47She has been punished.

11:49She will live her life in peace.

11:51We can't even live in a bar.

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