Admitting that they did think about ending their lives because of the ‘harassment’ being mounted on them by society and the endless scrutiny that they have been subjected to, the Rohtak sisters spoke to the media here on Saturday afternoon appealing for justice.
The sisters had recently hogged limelight for thrashing three youths in a bus for allegedly molesting them.
Reiterating their faith in the Haryana Government – which earlier this month had decided to put on hold the award announced for them – the sisters, Pooja and Arti, said: “We have faith and hope in the system. The truth will prevail.”
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The sisters, through women activists working with them, maintained that the police need to re-examine the affidavit and statements by some eye-witnesses who have come forward to claim that this was not “a case of eve-teasing but a dispute over giving a seat to a woman that led to the incident”.
“This is not true. The fact is that we were being harassed by the boys from the Rohtak bus stop itself. There is no truth in the story that the accused was fighting with us for getting an unwell woman a bus seat. There was eve-teasing, taunting and physical assault. The video was taken only to help us identify the boys,” said Pooja.
Rohtak Senior Superintendent of Police hashank Anand had earlier noted that the statement of all the women who have come forward has been recorded and the police also have with them the complaint of the sisters and the counter-complaint by the family of the three accused – Mohit, Kuldeep and Deepak.
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The police also maintained that they are “investigating the matter and would proceed in accordance with law”. The accused have, meanwhile, been released on bail.
Speaking on behalf of the Rohtak sisters at a press conference organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps here, All India Democratic Women’s Association general secretary Jagmati Sangwan said: “Questions are being raised about the authenticity of the incident and now we have another video surfacing about the girls being serial thrashers. People have to understand the ugly caste politics and the power struggle that women face every day in Haryana. The accused are from the upper caste and the government too has taken away the award only to appease them.”
She added that it was important that the courageous girls are recognised and awarded.