CAMURLIM: The violence she faced refuses to fade from her memory and the single mother continues to reel under the trauma of the day her neighbours stripped her naked, stuffed chilli powder in her private parts and beat her mercilessly. One year down the line, the Camurlim resident has not received any relief from the authorities and is threatened with death by her attackers.
Speaking to Herald, she narrated the ordeal of how the trio – Sonabai and her son Jogre Sasve and daughter-in-law Bharti Sasve often pass derogatory remarks at her and instigated her into a fight with them. Reporting the harassment to Mapusa police only increases the trauma as the officers embarrass her citing the incident.
“It is scary to report anything against my neighbours because I am certain the police will not act and this will encourage them to harass me further. I have also stopped visiting the police station. I feel shy when the policemen laugh at me and gossip that I am the same woman who was attacked with chilli powder in my private part,” the survivor said.
If she dares to counter any move by the accused – who are enjoying conditional bail – she is targeted. “They will plan an attack on me some day. When I was away for a few days, they chopped down trees in my residential area. I continuously hear them badmouthing me but I can’t do anything,” she said.
While trying to forget the incident, she was shocked to receive notices from the deputy collector informing that Mapusa police had filed two chapter cases against her.
The mother of a Class III girl child said this was an attempt to restrain her from going ahead with her previous complaints. “I was asked ‘to maintain silence’ in the notice. Six months have passed and the case is still not disposed of. These are false complaints against me,” she said, adding her family, including her aged father, confine themselves to their house after 7 pm.
The attack on June 23 last year left her physically weak because of which she was forced to leave her jobs. She is now employed at a book store. “I am taking medical treatment for the injuries till today, spending Rs 600 per month only on medicines. A portion of my head where these people (assailants) hit with wooden rib still aches,” she commented.
Mapusa police are yet to charge sheet the case, confirmed North SP Umesh Gaonkar, but asserted that the charge sheet will soon be filed. To claims that police mock at her, Gaonkar said the victim can file complaints taking assistance of the NGO that helped her with the case.
