‘I told everyone in the village about my rape. The sarpanch said, “We are all scared. What can we do?’
AGE
Possibly a minor when raped three years ago
DISTRICT
Dantewada
ACCUSES
Raju of Chintanaar village, Vijay (village unknown)
I AM THE eldest of three brothers and two sisters. Our father passed away three years ago. One day shortly after that, I was doing chores at the door of my house when someone grabbed my hair violently and dragged me inside my house. I saw there were four or more men. I know at least two of them, Raju of Chintanaar village and Vijay, who was once a construction labourer in my village. I had worked with both earlier and I know for sure that they had joined the Salwa Judum.
They were in their uniforms and had guns. I screamed for my mother but one of them held her outside. There was no one else at home, as my brothers had gone to the forests and my sister was at school. One of the men asked me, “Are you a Naxal?” I said no. He said they would kill me.
Then they raped me, all four of them. I cried all the while. Then they left.
Three days later, a force of uniformed men returned. Raju and Vijay were not among them. They beat me up badly. They beat up other people in the village. They threatened us saying we should join Salwa Judum or else… As they beat us up, they said, “Come to Dornapal [Salwa Judum camp]. We will enroll you as SPOs.” But no one from our village went.
Why didn’t I go to the police? I was scared they would catch me if I did. I told everyone in the village about my rape, including the sarpanch. But he said, “We are all scared. What can we do?”
One year after he raped me, I ran into Raju while on the way to the hospital. Once I came across Vijay too. On both occasions, they turned their heads away when they saw me.
Three other women were raped in my village. I have never heard of the Supreme Court. I don’t know if it ordered any investigations into the rapes of women like me. I don’t know what is NHRC. I don’t know if it carried out any investigations. I do know that no police report was ever filed about my rape.
I want the police to catch my rapists. I don’t know if anyone will marry me.
