Guruvammal, woman's group leader
The rapist was a rich man and he had already bribed the police
I am president of one of the self-help groups in my village. A few years ago a sixteen-year-old girl from my caste was raped by a sixty-year-old man. The girl’s father was upset and angry and beat the man who raped her. The rapist filed a case with the police against the girl's father for beating him.
My self-help group went to the police to explain the situation. However, they wouldn’t listen to us because the rapist was a rich man and he had already bribed the police. With the support of Arogya Agam (a VST partner) we filed a case in court against the rapist. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail. He appealed, got bail and committed suicide because the case had been in the newspaper and everyone knew what he had done.
Although the girl has had justice she is suffering from the stigma of being a rape victim. It is now very difficult for her to find a husband and she still lives at home. Hopefully things will change for the girl, but at least we proved that the man couldn’t get away with rape just because he was rich and the girl came from a poor family.