The irony doesn’t end here. The government has put up Sunita at an NGO, in Rampurhat, for her safety. Though the NGO says that she has all the help from the state, she is still not being sent to school.
Santhal girl Sunita was paraded naked across three villages on May 11, 2010, for allegedly befriending a non tribal boy. A 15-minute-long MMS of her ordeal was circulated. She won the bravery award for pursuing the legal battle, against the wishes of her family. Most of her tormentors are now behind bars.
“I had gone to the village shop to buy something. There the badmash captured me and…” her voice trembles down. Her citation reads that she was also sexually abused.
“The people in my village were not against me, but no one said a word when the atyachaar happened on me in front of them,” she says
This paper had reported, on December 12, that most villagers are sorry for what happened and want her to come back. But Sunita says she doesn’t want to go back.
There isn’t much to go back to. She says her village school doesn’t work any more. Her biggest ambition isn’t getting a job, or move to a big city. She just wants to study, she says.
Staff Officer Dipankar K. Ray of the Pushparagniketan Temporary Home for Destitute Women, in Rampurhat where she stays, said that there isn’t any school close by. Rampurhat is the sub-divisional headquarters.
“We have provided her a TV. She likes watching Bengali TV channels during the day,” says Ray, with a misplaced sense of pride.
A Bengal government publication says that Birbhum means “Land of the Brave.” It is only fitting that a bravery award winner comes from here. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Amartya Sen hail from here. Tagore chose the district to set up Santiniketan. For Sunita, the pride ends here.
No comments:
Post a Comment