Submitted by Amlandeep Bhattacharya, a writer from India.
Romila stays in a congested area of Santoshpur in Kolkata with her parents. Her father has been critically ill for last two years and her mother works as a school teacher on a local school. It is that time of the year when a furor is raised in the media regarding the brutal rape and murder of a young girl in a New Delhi bus. She is in class VIII and able to read English fluently. She reads all that is provided about the incident and the resulting protest movements in the English newspapers and magazines that her mother borrows for her father from the neighborhood.
The more she reads about the agitations in New Delhi and the whole country, the more she is torn with inner conflict. Now that this movement has shown that justice can be achieved, should she tell about the misbehavior of her cousin Akhil with her to her mother? When she thinks ‘yes’, she is reminded of Akhil’s threats: ‘See, I am older than you and, being a girl you must tolerate such small fun loving gestures. Remember, if you tell anyone about them, I will accuse you to my mother. You know very well that she will not believe anything said against me. You know very well that she can force father not to support you financially. As it is, she is not very happy with the situation”.
Romila is scared of her aunty. She always humiliates Romila’s mother. They have to put up with her as they need financial support from her uncle. Her father had to resign from office early for his ill health. They have almost exhausted his retirement benefits over his treatment for cancer. Though now he is better after prolonged treatment, he has to go through health checkups regularly which are quite expensive. She knows very well that it is not possible for her mother to carry the cost of her father’s treatment without the financial help from her uncle, Akhil’s father. Moreover, they are now staying in a flat belonging to her uncle.
Her uncle really loves her family. He works in a reputed firm as a chartered accountant and literally looks after his sister’s family. But his wife is a bit skeptical about Romila’s father’s illness, describing it as a ‘fake issue’ intended to squeeze money from his brother-in-law. Akhil of late has started coming to Romila’s house quite often. Romila’s innocent mother is very fond of her nephew, but Romila gets panicky as soon as she hears Akhil’s voice. Akhil seems to enjoy the situation. He knows very well that Romila will never have the guts to report his misbehavior to anyone. He is getting desperate day by day.
Three weeks before, Romila was going to wash her hands in the bathroom. Just then Akhil groped her from behind and started molesting her from behind. Romila tried to shout but Akhil hit her hard and since then he had molested Romila a number of times.
Romila is getting depressed. She is not doing well in her studies and nowadays does not like to mix with her friends. But everyone thinks that she is worried about her father. Her feelings of guilt and her helplessness are eating her up from inside.
Meanwhile the protests against the New Delhi rape case, especially after the lady expired in Singapore, took the form of an international movement. The issue is given utmost importance and raised in the Assembly.
One day Saritadidi, a NGO worker comes to her school and counsels them about how they can protect themselves against such misdeeds. She explains that girls face sexual harassment most from their near and dear ones. Girls can differentiate between an affectionate touch and an intentional one. But they themselves try to believe that this type of thing cannot happen to them. Moreover, they think that nobody will believe them and, on the contrary, will accuse them of merely seeking attention. Saritadidi says, ’Young girls, believe your instincts. If you do not like a touch, be sure that there must be some reason for it. Don’t hesitate to stand up to save your dignity. Don’t be ashamed, for you have done no wrong. Inform your mother or your school teacher. If they do not take any action, take my mobile number and feel free to call me’.
Hearing this, Romila’s eyes are full of tears. Now Saritadidi is an experienced, mature, clever lady and she immediately understands that something is wrong. So after the session is over, she takes Romila aside and asks her, ’Romila, did anything awkward happen to you? Did you experience any unwelcome touch? Tell me, I am like your elder sister. I will do whatever I can to help you.’
Initially Romila does not say anything but then she bursts out in tears. She is almost sobbing, ’Didi you know, my cousin Akhil, he, he… often misbehaves with me….’ Saritadidi hears the whole story from her. Saritadidi in the beginning is puzzled thinking about the solution then she takes Romila to her mother and Romila confides in her.
‘You must have made some mistake,’ says Titir Sen, Romila’s mother, ’my nephew cannot do any such thing. Anyway, do not tell this to anyone. Ronit will get angry and stop supporting us financially.’
Titir Sen is basically scared of the fact that if her brother Ronit Das gets angry with them and stops supporting them, it will not be possible for her to support her family with her meager income. Moreover, she believes that boys of Akhil’s age do such things and girls should accept such odd gestures. Just when they are conversing, her brother Ronit Das comes to their place in one of his occasional visits and hears the full conversation. He goes near Romila, embraces her and tells her, ’my little princess you should have told me about this before. I will take stern measures. You know that I do not differentiate between Akhil and you. Do not be upset. Now that I know about it I will definitely do something.’
The next morning Akhil comes and apologizes to Romila. His erstwhile confidence seemed to have vanished and he says, ’Romila, please forgive me. Father has scolded me badly and has even stopped a major part of my luxuries. He said that if I ever disturb you in future, he will see that I am sent to a distant place, maybe to a boarding school. I promise that there will be no such incidents in future.’
Thus, as the nation was beckoning a change in the dealings in the attitude towards violence against women, a father, uncle and brother helps his niece to get empowered. This is really a welcome change, at least in the feudalistic male chauvinistic dominated world.
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