To keep safe, rape victim’s sister turns ‘boy’

Wednesday, 11/09/2013

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130911/punjab.htm#10

Bhagta Bhai Ke (Bathinda) : Seven-year-old Chamanpreet Kaur (not her real name) has been dressing up as a boy ever since her 14-year-old sister was raped on October 15 last year. She perceives it to be the only way for girls to stay safe.

With fear writ large on her innocent face, the girl, whose braids have given way to a bun atop her head, discloses her plans for the future: “I will grow up as a baptised Sikh youth. I will then see who dares to touch me.”

A Bathinda fast-track court had yesterday awarded life imprisonment to two of the seven accused in the rape case at Bhagta Bhai Ke village.

The girl’s father says the incident changed the family’s life for the worse: “We were forced to sell our land and desert the village. We shifted to Mansa for good two months ago. We were hoping all the accused will be convicted but that didn’t happen… My elder daughter has turned into an emotional wreck.”

The case had hogged headlines ever since the incident took place. First, the case was registered only after the media highlighted the plight of the girl. The girl had also written an emotional letter to the Punjab Women Rights Commission, seeking permission “to take law into her own hands to take revenge”.

The much-awaited judgement may not have fulfilled all the hopes of the victim family, but the acquitted persons claim they were the ones who were “victimised”: “Who will compensate us? We had been crying innocent since day one. How can anybody construe the allegation that I along with my brother and son together raped the girl?” says Gurjeet Singh. He claims a “property dispute between the two families is the reason behind the allegation”.

The incident took place on the intervening night of October 14-15. When the victim's mother woke up at 4 am, she was horrified to find her daughter lying outside their house in a semi-unconscious state, bleeding and writhing in pain. Her hair too was shorn.

She brought her daughter inside only to learn that the victim was allegedly kidnapped the previous night and gang-raped by seven persons, including 56-year-old Charanjit Singh Mithu, his brother Gurjeet Singh (54) and the latter’s 21-year-old son Manpreet Singh alias Mani, living in the neighbourhood.

Gurpreet Singh Gopi (24), Sukhdev Singh alias Kala (32), Harbans Singh alias Raju (23) and Balbir Singh (20) were the other persons booked in the case. Manpreet and Harbans were sentenced for life imprisonment.