Prevent another Priyanka Reddy
When 27 year old "Disha" stepped out of her house in the evening of November 27th, little did she know that this will be her last. It will be her last morning in this world, her last bath, her last day of getting ready and the last time she would bid goodbye to her loved ones. A veterinarian by profession, she stepped out of her house at 5.30 PM, only never to return thereafter.
Imagine yourself inside the body of this young woman. Imagine it is you who had rode that scooter towards the Tondupall toll plaza in Hyderabad where you park your scooter to take a cab to reach a private hospital in Gachibowli. You are unaware that some men have noticed you and have already planned something sinister for you. Imagine all this happening to you without your slightest knowledge.
You return around 9 pm to find a flat rear tyre on your scooter. You curse your luck and call your sister to explain the situation. While you are at it, 2 men approach you to help you fix your scooter. They make you wait in a place where you are least comfortable. Imagine yourself, a young woman, standing in a dark corner where truck drivers in their lorries are giving you the worst stare you could possibly get.
The world will know a story by morning but what they wont know is what happened with you. In few minutes, you will be dragged into an empty plot by 4 men whom you have never met before. For once, you will think they are robbers and you are willing to give them whatever they want just to get out of the situation. Your heartbeat increases and you feel faint thinking of the unthinkable.
They tell you to relax and give you a bottle of soft drink mixed with alcohol. You refuse to drink it but they coax you to have it. Left with no choice and feeling threatened, you gulp down a few sips, coughing, not knowing what's in the bottle. The sugar makes you feel a little better and before you know it, you are knocked down.
One man gags you and the hits you in the head. Then they take their turns to ravage your body like hungry dogs. You can feel their filth all over you but your scream is muffled and you are unable to breath (hold your breathe here for few seconds and feel the horror). You start to faint again but those dogs wont stop.
Once they are done quenching their lust, they have a long look at you lying in the grass. Your are battered and bruised; they have destroyed not only your body but also your soul. The price you paid for trusting some strangers. You try to stir hoping the horror is now over but this is the last time your body will move. They hit you hard on your hard with an heavy object and you have no energy left to even raise your hand in defences. Now there is only silence and feel nothing.
What the world will know that 4 men raped you under the pretext of helping you. The world will know, that you were killed and your body was burnt to destroy your identity. The world will move on after protesting your brutal death, but will the world ever learn.
Will our countrymen learn that women are not inferior to them. No matter what your religion or culture says, you cannot call yourself a 'Man' by bullying women. As a man, you have to let go of all that we were taught about entitlement. No man should feel entitled to demean any woman.
When you think about Priyanka Reddy, imagine yourself in her shoes. Our society cannot afford to have another victim and that next victim could be you.
Comments