STAMPED IMPRESSIONS
Stricken by fear
Reeta Sharma

TWENTYTHREE-YEAR-OLD Usha Rani was a beautiful girl with dreams in her eyes. But on June 7, death visited her not once but twice.

She had gone to Nawanshahar from her village, Rakraan Dhahan, to pick up B.Ed. admission forms. There, her 19-year-old neighbour Bhinda deceptively took her to a room, where three of his friends were waiting. He and his friends brutally raped her and then took photographs of her. Unable to face the humiliation, Usha consumed an overdose of tablets after she wrote a suicide note. Giving details of the traumatic incident, she wrote that Bhinda and his friends Jindi, Sonu and Kinda "deserved death by hanging." She even walked all the way to the police station, where she narrated her harrowing experience before she collapsed. Though Usha was immediately rushed to the hospital, she could not be saved.

The fallout of this grave incident has been more distressing. Travelling to her village, I was shocked to find villagers of Rakraan Dhahan and the surrounding areas so gripped with fear and insecurity that they had decided not to send their daughters to colleges for further education. This sense of insecurity will, perhaps, get assuaged, by prompt police action. The police has arrested all four culprits and filed a case against them. "All the four boys displayed a criminal attitude, as they not only abducted Usha Rani, raped her but also clicked her photos with a view to blackmailing her. Their arrest and evidence against them, like the dying declaration and the photos, will certainly ensure their conviction," said M M Farooqui, Senior Superintendent of Police, Nawanshahar.

The Deputy Commissioner, Harjit Inder Singh Grewal, is personally taking interest in this case. He said, "I have called a meeting of all the Principals and we are going to review the security of girl students. In fact, I am also going to involve the panchayats to ensure their co-operation in allaying the fears and apprehensions of parents." Why should girls face the brunt of such ghastly incidents? Why should they be stopped from growing and getting educated? The feudalistic set-up in which daughters are not allowed to mix up or interact with boys their age often prevents both girls and boys from acquiring skills to differentiate between a criminal mind and noble personality. Usha Rani, in all probability, was a victim of this condition, as she failed to read the intentions of her neighbour and thus accompanied him without suspecting anything.

Nawanshahar is a small district. Yet, the number of girls studying in various colleges is rather impressive. There are over half-a-dozen colleges in this area and, fortunately, all private colleges have ensured safety of the girls. Dr Rajinder Kaur, Principal of Girls’ College in Rattewal, asserts, "We have seven buses which pick up girl students from 30 surrounding villages like Sahota Asmanpur, Bhaddi, Nurpur Bedi, Majari and Taunsa. This college was started by Maharaj Brahmanand Bhurewale, who believed in educating girls. Initially, we started the bus service from village to village to ensure that the parents sent the girls to college. But after the Usha Rani incident, we realise that it also ensures safety of girls. We have nearly 600 girl students, and the pass percentage has been 98." The Principal of Government College, Pojewal, Mandeep Kaur, however, is faced with a problem in this regard. Her college is co-educational but the strength of girl students is quite impressive. "The road leading to our college is in a miserable condition. We have an irregular bus service. I have been writing to the transport authority in this regard. Our students often get stranded. But thankfully our Deputy Commissioner, Harjit Inder Singh Grewal, is seeking aid from the CRF (Central Road Fund). Besides, our college is going to bring out a pamphlet to persuade parents to send their daughters to the college."

Nawanshahar is the first district to have started a "helpline" for women. Farooqui said he proposed to give this wide publicity and display the helpline phone number in colleges. "Even women who are victims of domestic violence can approach the helpline," he added.