Everything is hunky dory till we come face to face with reality which hits the hardest when you are at your weakest. Recently a friend of mine did the most amazing thing (which in reality should have been the most obvious thing to do but sadly life and times hold the power to make even normal things amazing). On Saturday morning he witnessed the plight of a woman in his neighborhood in Gurgaon who was being thrashed in full public view outside her house by her in laws and her husband and was being dragged by her hairs like a luggage around the house being beaten left right and center. My friend could not tolerate it any longer and despite his mother’s opposition and a mute neighborhood silently watching the drama hiding behind their windows, he went ahead and called 100 to report the case*.
Police help did arrive and the woman was finally saved. The criminals were investigated and from the voices heard it was clear that the woman was disclosing the details of the family members and how she was threatened that if she tried to escape, her in laws will kill her father and create problems in her sister’s marriage which made her bear the atrocities being showered on her on a daily basis.
Now we may think that this is the happy ending that we all deserve, that truth won over evil and criminals paid the price for what they did. But the truth does not finish here. Soon it was discovered that the police shared the details of the phone number from which the call was made to report the case and now the criminals know who disclosed their details. They have in fact been making the rounds around his house dropping hints that they know the details and will make my friend pay for it.
Add to it the fact that they belong to a community that has been recently “awarded” the status of SC/ST and going by the way they seem to throw their weight around in public, it is not difficult to imagine that my friend might be in deep trouble now.
I am, have been and will always be a feminist at heart (and yes I don’t mind the term). So there is no doubt how proud I am for the courage my friend has shown for helping the lady at her time of need which should be the case with all of us at all times. But going by the way things are progressing, even I am forced to think if it was really the right thing to do. What if something happens to him?!?! Who is going to take care of his wife and his ailing mother? How will they ever be able to cope with the loss of their son if it ever comes to that? Should this be the price they be made to pay for having an amazing son as he is?
What is bothering me the most here is that when the Govt itself does not care – who do I make my priority to protect? This is the question faced by everyone who chooses to let people suffer and doesn’t bother to offer help. The indifference is simply an attempt to survive.
* http://gurgaon.haryanapolice.gov.in/faqs.htm: Identity is protected in case the caller demands anonymity
Life, love, this and that 