In riot-torn Muzaffarnagar, women fall prey to politics of ‘sexual violence’
MUZAFFARNAGAR: In Muzaffarnagar’s Kailawada village, outside the house of the Chaudharys, a small door in vibrant green opens into an expansive courtyard. The men step out, and stare at us with a mix of apprehension and suspicion. A little over a month ago, after a video of their daughter Rani being raped went viral in the village and beyond, the family registered an FIR alleging rape and blackmail by local youth.
Rani’s case is one of at least three such recent incidents in the past two months involving Hindu women and Muslim men in the district that were used in the BJP’s election campaign for the bypolls held on February 13.
On Tuesday when the results were out, the BJP emerged victorious.
In a district where memories of the 2013 riots — set off by an incident of “eve-teasing” involving a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy — are still fresh, these incidents provided fresh impetus to BJP’s election campaign, centered on pro- tecting the “honour of the women”. This campaign, many believe, may have repercussions on assembly polls in the state next year.
Back in Kailawada, Rani says that before filming the video, the two accused took her to a hotel, “drugged her” and asked her to pretend as if she was “enjoying it”, or they would kill her brother. They then blackmailed her for money for a couple of years, before releasing the video last month.
A senior police official, however, says the video shows the couple engaging in “consensual activities”. A local, who did not wish to be named, added that the video fell into the hands of Hindu youth who ran a mobile repair shop, and it is they who sold it in the village for a few rupees.
Regardless of whether Rani’s video involved ‘consent’ or not, for the BJP, the narrative of ‘force’ has been useful to aid its rhetoric of ‘honour’ in the district, and beyond. ‘Bahu beti ke samman mein, Kapil Dev maidan mein’ read one of the main slogans of the new MLA, Kapil Dev Agarwal. “It [sexual violence against women] is a big problem here. How can anyone be safe when police stations are sold [because of corruption],” Sanjeev Balyan, Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare, who visited the Chaudharys in Kailwada last month, told HT in Muzaffarnagar.
However, a local police official contended it is not uncommon for the girl’s family to cry rape and abduction once “things are out in the open”. “Rani’s case wouldn’t have become such a big deal here if it didn’t involve the two communities,” he said.
Rehana Adeeb, an activist with the Muzaffarnagar-based NGO Astitva confirms that many cases of rape that reach the police stations are filed by parents who are against inter-caste and interreligious alliances. She adds women who are actually affected by violence are unable to report it because either they don’t understand the process, or are under pressure from the community to stay silent.
In Kailawada, Rani says she is losing hope of justice in her case. Those who circulated the clip at the mobile shop have been let off, she says. “Can you help ensure that at least the two main accused are not let off ?” she asks.