‘That Christmas night, I fell prey to a close relative’

That Christmas night when everyone was celebrating, I too was in a festive mood . And with a hope to enjoy the festivities, I, a mere six- year-old girl back then, decided to go to my aunt’s place, least realising that the night of celebration would become a nightmare which would haunt me for life .

The evening was spent well with cousins. But my aunt, who was expecting a baby, went into labour and had to be rushed to hospital. Back home, it was just me and the uncle whose wife was in hospital.

We had to share the same bed and what the uncle did to me was shocking. I was too young to realise what I was undergoing. All I knew was that it was terribly wrong and dirty. It was painful, both physically and mentally. I could not even resist as I did not know what it was. That night became the longest night of my life as I kept waiting for the darkness to end and the sun to rise, indicating that the nightmare was over.

The next day, uncle behaved as if everything was normal and took me to the hospital with him

THAT NIGHT HAUNTS ME

to meet the aunt and the new born. With the baby in my lap, I had a hundred things going through my mind. I wanted to tell my aunt about the night’s happenings, but could not muster courage to speak out.

I went home and narrated the incident to my sister and then we went to my mother to tell her . To our surprise, she extended no support and told me to forget about it.

How could I forget? That night haunts me still. I felt irritated and did not want to see that man ever. But he kept coming to my house and my family forced me to respect him like before. I avoided him but he would specifically talk to me in public. I hated this, but had no option but to be civil to him.

I am married and mother of a four-year-old boy now. When my marriage was fixed, I met my would-be husband and told him about what I had undergone. He said that was my past and he had no objection in marrying me. My husband became my pillar of strength and motivated me to go in for social work. He said I should work for the rights of women and children and I have been doing that.

I still ask my mother as to why she did not support me then. Each time I ask her , she feels ashamed and says she had no courage to demand her own rights. So how could she assert herself for mine?

The family never talked about it , thinking that I had forgotten it. But every bit of it is still fresh in my mind.

Even now when I celebrate Christmas, I am reminded of that horrible night when I fell prey to a close family member.

STILL. I FELT IRRITATED AND DID NOT WANT TO SEE THAT MAN EVER. BUT HE KEPT COMING TO MY HOUSE AND MY FAMILY FORCED ME TO RESPECT HIM LIKE BEFORE