NEW DELHI: A viral Facebook post by dubbing artist Bhagya Lakshmi has highlighted a rape survivor’s terrible ordeal, where in addition to allegedly being brutally raped by four men -- including a politician -- her attempt to file a complaint and get justice was met with further insult and jeering.
Bhagya Lakshmi posted the account after meeting with the victim and her husband, who described the incident that took place almost two years ago. The victim says that her decision to withdraw the complaint was directly linked to the abuse the faced from the police in their line of questioning. "I don't want a police case because we have been humiliated by the police. Far more than rape, it was the police threats and humiliation that was unbearable," the victim said.
According to the post, the woman was gang raped by four of her husband’s friends, including a politician. Four men, who were friends of the woman’s husband, approached her one day and told her that her husband had met with an accident. Trusting their word, the woman went with the men as she was told they will be taking her to the hospital where her husband had been admitted. Instead, she found herself outside the city, where she was repeatedly raped by all four men. “One of them holds a high post in a political party,” the post adds.
The woman told her husband of the incident only three months later, after he prodded her after noticing her recent change in behaviour. On her husband’s insistence, she filed a police complaint.
“Based on my complaint, all the four men were called to the police station. The inspector then asked me which one of the four men gave me maximum pleasure. Maybe it is because they realized I had little evidence to prove the rape,” the woman says (as per Bhagya Lakshmi’s post).
Unable to bear the humiliation and abuse, the woman withdrew her complaint. Bhagya Lakshmi adds that the woman told her that “Nirbhaya, Soumya and Jisha were fortunate to have died post being raped. Otherwise, they would have had to go through several rounds of mental rape, just like her.”
As the post has quickly become viral, the Kerala Chief Minister’s office reportedly reached out to Bhagya Lakshmi. According to the Times of India, Prabha Varma, special secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said that the matter will be taken up seriously. ''We have contacted Bhagyalekshmi. It is a serious matter and the government is taking it up with all seriousness,'' he said.
As the issue came to light, the woman and her husband addressed a press conference along Bhagya Lakshmi.