: Three young rape survivors from Odisha, who have shown extraordinary courage in seeking justice, on Tuesday embarked on a 1,200 km journey for the second time to depose before a court about their ordeal.
The girls are slated to testify against the accused and undergo cross-examination for the first time before the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Karimnagar, in Telengana, on January 20. They had travelled to Karimnagar on April 11 last year for the cross-examination, which could not take place as defence lawyer had then said that he was not ready.
Although cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, are required to be disposed of swiftly, this case has dragged on for over two years now. The victims were repeatedly raped, allegedly by a brick kiln owner at Choppadandi in the Karimnagar district, in 2014.
Harrowing ordeal
“I vividly remember what had happened to me in March 2014. The owner of the brick kiln where I used to work with my parents made repeated sexual assaults on me. I am yet to recover from the trauma. I am not bothered about how long the court case will be stretched, but the rapist must be punished as per law,” Rukmuni (name changed) from the Komna block of Nuapada district, the youngest of the three, told The Hindu at the Bhubaneswar railway station before boarding the Visakha Express for Hyderabad.
Rukmuni, then 11 years old, had dropped out from Class V to migrate along with her parents to work in a brick kiln at Choppadandi in the Karimnagar district in 2014. She alleges that the 40-year-old proprietor of the brick kiln had forcibly taken her from her parents and raped her inside his office room.
Accompanying her were the other two girls from the migration-prone districts of Nuapada and Bargarh, who underwent a similar ordeal allegedly at the hand of the same brick kiln owner. All three girls were minor then.
Not bowing to pressure
The girls and their family members say they have been constantly pressurised to compromise the case ever since it was registered. Bhubaneswar-based Aid et Action, an NGO working on migration issues, is providing them support to fight the case. Members of this organisation accompany the girls to Karimnagar.
“It does not matter how much support is provided to a rape survivor. What matters is the determination and self-confidence of the victim to fight out the case in courtroom. These girls have shown exactly the grit required to face the accused, who has strong political links,” said Umi Daniel, head of Aid et Action’s migration unit.
