‘She is so weak she can’t walk to school’
› They (police) asked me how I did not know my daughter was being raped. It was winter and she used to wear jackets. I did not know about the pregnancy till I saw her changing clothes one day. RAPE SURVIVOR’S MOTHER
KARNA L: Raped by her father’ s relative, she gave birth at the tender age of 12. She did not have a choice because by the time her pregnancy was detected, she was a week past the 20-week limit allowed for abortion. The child was given up for adoption. Now, 14 years old, the teen is studying hard with her mother’s support to reshape her life.
“My daughter is very intelligent. She used to top her class. I want to make her an I AS officer as I want to give her a dignified life,” said the teen’s mother, who is unable to make peace with the law. “Once a law is made, can no one go beyond it? Was it fair to make a 12-year-old girl give birth just because her pregnancy was a week above the permissible limit?” she told HT.
The scars are deep. “My daughter has stretch marks on herstomach.ThisisHaryana.In this state, they don’t even let daughters get born. Who will marry her?” she added.
“She is still so weak that she can’t even walk to school. Even a woman’s body takes years to be normal after delivery. My husband is in jail in an unrelated case. I cannot take a regular job because I will never be able to leave her alone,” she said.
The woman said her fight started the day she went to a police station. “They asked me how I did not know my daughter was being raped. It was winter and my daughter used to wear jackets. I did not get to know about the pregnancy till I saw her changing clothes one day.” The accused, who was married, said he was a juvenile. “We were able to show he was an adult. He got 12 years in jail,” she said.
She gets ₹2,000 as monthly allowance for her daughter, whose medical and school bills are reimbursed. “I did not tell anyone among our relatives, not even my son. Just my brother’s family knows as he is my only support. have never asked her if she has any memories...”