00:00Now my life is so bad that I can't say anything.
00:04I don't go out because I'm afraid that if something like this happens again, what will I do?
00:09You only tell me, brother. Will you throw me out of here today or tomorrow?
00:14Where will we go?
00:21In the heart of Rajasthan, a young woman's life stands still,
00:25haunted by a past too brutal to forget and a present too indifferent to care.
00:30This is Shabnam's story.
00:55On the way to Sannata, the taxi driver said that we won't go there.
01:02So we started walking.
01:05First, he pulled my daughter's dupatta.
01:08That saved us.
01:10After that, he pulled my hand.
01:13No matter how hard we tried, he didn't let go.
01:16I got hurt in my leg.
01:18Then I fainted.
01:20He took the jeep in front of the house where we lived.
01:27The tenant outside the house saw us in the car.
01:32He started shouting that he was taking the girl.
01:35But my mother didn't know that it was us.
01:38He followed us for a long time.
01:41Then he took us away.
01:43He beat us a lot.
01:45We fainted.
01:47He forced us to go with him.
01:50He took us to his house at 4 am.
01:54His brother-in-law and sister told him to take us to a quiet place.
02:00Otherwise, we will be trapped.
02:02So we did.
02:04Then he dropped us at Jeen Mata's place.
02:08There was a forest below.
02:10He dropped us there.
02:12A man on a bike saw us.
02:15He picked us up and gave us water.
02:18He asked us what had happened.
02:20We got scared and didn't tell him anything.
02:22Then we called the police.
02:24They came.
02:26They asked us what had happened.
02:30We were so scared.
02:32They told us that nothing had happened.
02:34They told us to go to our mother and leave us.
02:36In 2012, her life changed forever.
02:40She was brutally assaulted by two men,
02:42undergoing reconstructive surgeries.
02:44She thought that the nightmare would end
02:46with their imprisonment.
02:48But the horrors persisted.
02:50This time, inflicted by society
02:52and a system that was meant to protect her.
02:55At that time, everyone used to encourage us
02:57that we are with you.
02:59Nothing will happen.
03:01Even the district government supported us.
03:03They supported us so much that no one else did.
03:05No one in the world knew us.
03:07Still, they supported us.
03:09Seeing everyone's courage,
03:11we were alive.
03:13But what is the use?
03:15We can't even go out.
03:17We live inside the house.
03:19We are scared.
03:21If we go out,
03:23her family must know us.
03:25If they do something,
03:27what will we do?
03:29They told us that they would give us a house,
03:31a job,
03:33and pay for our education.
03:35But they didn't do anything.
03:37Just like the boy was punished,
03:39the guards also left us.
03:43Because of us,
03:45even our brother doesn't talk to our mother.
03:47He says,
03:49they defamed us.
03:51You must know the situation in the village.
03:53How people speak in the village.
03:57Even Basundra aunty didn't live.
03:59She said that she would get us a job,
04:01a house.
04:03But the moment she won,
04:05she forgot us.
04:09She used to come to meet us a lot.
04:11She used to say,
04:13we will do this and that for you.
04:15Don't worry.
04:17Even Phoolam Azad didi used to come here.
04:21But when the time for justice came,
04:23everyone left.
04:25No one came.
04:27At that time, I don't know why
04:29they came to support us.
04:31At 24, Shabnam's voice
04:33trembles with despair.
04:35For over a decade,
04:37she has battled depression, isolation
04:39and fear.
04:41How can we deal with this?
04:43Because our responsibility
04:45as a society is that
04:47the frame of mind
04:49which was there before,
04:51should go back to that.
04:53The way she was leading her life
04:55before this incident,
04:57before this offence,
04:59she should live that kind of life again.
05:01She should get that kind of love
05:03from her family,
05:05friends and society.
05:07She should live the life
05:09she deserved before this offence.
05:11The government
05:13and the courts
05:15cannot answer this.
05:17Our society will be the first to answer this.
05:21It is the responsibility of the government
05:23and the judiciary
05:25to create an environment
05:27in which
05:29the society should
05:31accept her
05:33with an open mind
05:35and treat her
05:37the way she was treated before.
05:39Her plea for justice goes beyond the courtroom.
05:41It extends to life.
05:43It extends to a life
05:45she can live without shame and fear.
05:47No one supports us.
05:49When we talk to the villagers,
05:51they say that she has so much money
05:53that she can buy land
05:55and live.
05:57But no one knows
05:59that we don't even have money to buy food.
06:01Two months ago,
06:03when we went to the village,
06:05we saw what happens
06:07in the village.
06:09How everyone speaks in front of us.
06:11Even if our mother gets married,
06:13what will that boy say?
06:15Either such a girl dies,
06:17or she herself dies,
06:19or she is killed.
06:21They don't get married.
06:23They get defamed. Who will marry them?
06:25In this case,
06:27I would like to tell you
06:29that there were six main accused.
06:31Two of the six were
06:33acquitted by the court.
06:35And four were acquitted
06:37by the court
06:39on the basis of suspicion
06:41of Girdarilal,
06:43Yograj, Radheshyam
06:45and Ruparam.
06:47The FIR was filed.
06:49After filing the FIR,
06:51on 26th July 2016,
06:53two accused were punished
06:55by the court.
06:57The police investigation
06:59was not very strict.
07:01During the investigation,
07:03the investigation was delayed.
07:05The accused got the benefit
07:07of the delay.
07:09The investigation should be
07:11carried out as soon as
07:13the crime occurs.
07:15But in this case,
07:17this did not happen.
07:19Properly,
07:21the investigation should be
07:23carried out as soon as possible.
07:27Today, Shabnam and her mother
07:29live in a dilapidated night shelter.
07:31Filthy, unsafe, exposed.
07:33Promises of rehabilitation
07:35remain unfulfilled.
07:37The state offered a temporary roof,
07:39but no safety, no dignity,
07:41no peace.
07:43You only tell me,
07:45if not today,
07:47then tomorrow.
07:49Where will we go now?
07:51There is no place to stay.
07:53There is no water,
07:55on top of that,
07:57any man comes at night.
07:59We don't sleep at night
08:01because of fear.
08:03What will we do?
08:05Despite the Supreme Court's
08:07ruling on rehabilitation
08:09and the rights of survivors,
08:11Shabnam's dreams of an education,
08:13a job and a future remain out of reach.
08:15Even basic needs like
08:17attending school are denied to her.
08:19This house was nearby,
08:21so she also refused.
08:23She said, no, we won't teach.
08:25She said, the media people
08:27will come tomorrow,
08:29our job will be lost.
08:31She is so scared that she
08:33even refuses to let us go there.
08:35She was not even writing
08:37the names of our nieces and nephews.
08:39So we said, we won't come here.
08:41Then we wrote the names.
08:43Several human rights activists
08:45have called for a systemic overhaul.
08:47The rehabilitation of rape survivors
08:49should be more than
08:51just empty promises.
08:53It's a riot.
08:55The stark reality in Rajasthan
08:57however reveals a system
08:59that abandons the very woman
09:01it should protect.
09:03It's better to die
09:05than to live like this.
09:07At least I have a life
09:09to listen to.
09:11It's better to die
09:13than to live like this.
09:15Rehabilitation was a
09:17very, very important part.
09:19Just like we had to fight
09:21with the criminal justice system,
09:23with the investigating agencies,
09:25with the administrative agencies,
09:27with the courts,
09:29we had to engage
09:31in a way that they understood,
09:33they were sensitive.
09:35At the same time, we also realized
09:37we had to fight the media,
09:39the public space,
09:41because there was so much of hostility.
09:43See, restoration of
09:45self-respect and esteem
09:47is very important
09:49and that is part of the process
09:51of rehabilitation, where restoration
09:53of confidence, restoration of self-respect
09:55and restoration
09:57of a community.
09:59It is not
10:01totally
10:03rebuilding lives, which is what
10:05we had clearly stated,
10:07that there may have to be livelihood support
10:09that you have to provide.
10:11And self-confidence and
10:13self-respect doesn't just come
10:15with money, it comes with some other kind of work.
10:17So it's a whole,
10:19you have to look at it holistically.
10:21A struggle for justice, as you rightly
10:23said, is not just about punishments.
10:25The struggles
10:27on the road
10:29should be about restoration,
10:31rehabilitation. Rehabilitation
10:33does not come up from the streets.
10:35Rarely does
10:37it come up and
10:39rehabilitation is not a
10:41policy which
10:43governments have worked upon. It's a very big
10:45lacunae in our
10:47whole understanding of
10:49actually what happens to
10:51sexual violence survivors.
10:53We also see that the victim
10:55is first
10:57affected by the accused,
10:59who commits sexual harassment
11:01or rapes.
11:03Apart from that, in our society
11:05our victims
11:07are harassed by their families,
11:09by their own friends,
11:11by the people they live with.
11:13So for that, an awareness drive
11:15is the responsibility of the government
11:17or is it the responsibility of the administration
11:19to do it?
11:21At that time, everyone burnt us, everyone supported us.
11:23At that time, we didn't know
11:25what kind of life would be like.
11:27Here, our uncle and aunt
11:29also say that she was raped,
11:31she was raped,
11:33she was raped,
11:35we won't let her stay at home,
11:37we won't let her stay at home.
11:39Where will we go?
11:41If they throw us out of here,
11:43where will we go?
11:45There is no other way than death.
11:47She has been punished.
11:49She will live her life in peace.
11:51We can't even live in a bar.
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