It’s Never Too Late

by Priyanka Baranwal

  Epilogue

  Maya worked with NWLO for another year and a half before taking a break. She had healed a number of women from Bangalore and other cities. She conducted workshops with other groups, went to rural areas to listen, understand and draw a full sketch of the lives of the women there. Meeting all kinds of women helped her to understand the society she lived in better. It helped her to grow beyond her pains, happiness and hopes. She was not just living for her own family but also for many others. Working with NWLO had been quite a gift to her in return for the fight with those criminals. What was she doing in NWLO was giving her immense pleasure and satisfaction.

  She took a break to give birth to her second baby. They were blessed with a baby boy. This changed Sejal’s world at the drop of a hat. Her little brother was all she could think about. He was a big change for all of them too. Sejal named him Krishna. She used to play with him all the time and his little twinkling eyes showed her a new world that was more beautiful than the world she was living in. Seeing Sejal come out of her traumatic state made Maya and Rajat happy. Their little world was complete. Things were settling down. But as the past always stays in one corner of the house, it may come to haunt them again in the future. Maya and Rajat just hoped and prayed that the day about which Rajat had assured Maya, would come soon.

  Facts

  ➢According to the National Crimes Record Bureau, rape is the fastest growing crime in India.

  ➢Madhya Pradesh alone had reported the maximum number of rape cases in 2009 - 3000 cases.

  ➢Delhi alone reported 400 rape cases in 2009 while close to 1,879 molestation and kidnapping cases were filed.

  ➢In Delhi, a 23 year old girl was raped in the moving bus for one hour by six men in December 2012. She was so brutally raped and tortured that she succumbed to her injuries.

  ➢According to the United Nations, women feel most vulnerable and unsafe in the capital city of India.

  ➢According to a survey done by the State of World Population Report in 2010, in India:

  •A woman gets raped in every 54 minutes;

  •Molestation happens in every 26 minutes;

  •Kidnapping or abduction every 43 minutes;

  •Harassment in every 51 minutes, and

  •Crime against women happens in every 7 minutes

  ➢Atrocities against foreigners are also on the rise.

  ➢In 2006, a Japanese woman was brutally raped by a gang of men.

  ➢In 2009 in Palampur, a British volunteer was raped by two taxi drivers.

  ➢Fifteen year old Scarlet Keeling was raped and brutally murdered in Goa in 2008.

  These are just a few cases. There are thousands of cases which go unreported.