Family sexual abuse victim wins justice, loses kin
A week ago, the court convicted her tormentors. But Priyanshi, 26, is in a confused state of mind. The joy of the court judgment in her favour is swamped by the pain of losing her family members who were her culprits and showed no mercy on her.
A week ago, the court convicted her tormentors. But Priyanshi (name changed), 26, is in a confused state of mind. The joy of the court judgment in her favour is swamped by the pain of losing her family members who were her culprits and showed no mercy on her.
Priyanshi fell victim to sexual assault by her father and brother. The brutality continued for nine long years and she underwent numerous rapes and physical torture all these years. Even worse, her mother, though aware of what her daughter was undergoing, told her to stay quiet and continue to bear whatever her father and brother did. On December 8, the court pronounced a judgement in her favour and awarded 10-year imprisonment for father, mother and brother.
“I had no one close when I lived at home and even now when my mother, brother and father are in jail, I have no one by my side,” she said.
All relatives have shunned her. Her younger brother, who stays with her grandparents in Mugalsarai, blames her for sending the parents and elder brother behind the bars. “They all feel that I am the culprit. They feel I should not have raised my voice. But I could not tolerate it any more,” said Priyanshi who works in a beauty parlour and lives in a shelter home for girls.
Priyanshi went to the chief minister’s Janata Darbar with her problem last year. This was her first complaint against the family. “Since childhood, I lived with my maternal grandparents in Mugalsarai. I came to Lucknow in 2004 after completing my Class 10 from there. A tantrik visited my place and it was on his advice that my father began to rape me,” she said.
The tantrik said that her father, Sadan Singh who worked as a fitter at Northern Railway’s locomotive workshop in Alambagh, would get rid of his problems if he got into a physical relationship with his daughter, she said.
“He said that he wanted to get rid of all his problems. The ghost that was haunting him was insisting that I should go to bed with him, he said. When I objected, he thrashed me. When I told my mother, she said I should compromise, as it would cure him. When I told my brother, he also began the same act,” she said.
Priyanshi became pregnant several times during these years and every time she was forced to terminate the pregnancy. “The pills given for abortion began to affect my health. I had infection in my kidney and the pain in my chest continued to grow. Then I decided to speak out against them,” she said.
With no one by her side, Priyanshi still has the will to move forward in life and become a torchbearer for other girls who suffer silently within their homes. “I want to open my own beauty parlour, train other girls like me and employ them all,” she said and urged all girls not to suffer abuse within the family silently.
“I have been fortunate enough to have got justice within a year. I am sure this case would give courage to many other girls to come out and expose the harsh truth of their lives,” she said.