Two women. Two Stories - 42 years apart. We look back to see how the narrative has changed.
26 November 1973. Aruna Shanbaug loved animals. She had scolded the janitor, Sohanlal, for ill-treating animals at KEM hospital, and for stealing medicines. The next day he silenced her forever. Raping her. Sodomising her. Cutting off the blood supply to her brain. Crushing her being, her thoughts. Cocking a snook at him, her fiesty spirit lived on.
15 May 2015. Prerna Pratham Singh was feisty enough to do what few girls would dare. She decided it was time to give it back to her stalker. Raushan Kumar Pandey, a married plastic technology expert from Alwar had been posting lewd messages to her Facebook newsfeed for a few days. On 15 May he sent her a message in Hindi asking if she had a ‘c#&t’. Prerna chose to make the conversation “public”..
Aruna Shanbaug could never tell her story. That she was menstruating. That he sodomised her. She was engaged to be married very soon to a medic, and the Dean of KEM felt it was best to conceal the anal rape, to avoid the stigma that may follow. Aruna’s case was filed as one of robbery and attempted murder. Sohanlal got 7 years imprisonment - he would have got 10 years for the “unnatural sex” offence alone. He was never tried for rape or sexual molestation.
Prerna’s very public response to Raushan informed him that she was pressing charges and that he should get ready for the “fame” that would follow. A senior cop encouraged and helped Prerna. Her Facebook post went viral. Her profile was deluged with congratulatory messages. Even from people a lot older - “Beta, tum bahut achha kaam kar rahi ho”. No one asked her to pipe down. The ‘c#&t’ word was out there. It was now part of prime time TV news.
Aruna’s case wore off the headlines soon after. While Sohanlal Bharata Valmiki walked out of prison 7 years down, Aruna was imprisoned to a bed in Ward No.4 of Mumbai’s KEM hospital.
Once Facebook unblocked her page – Prerna’s post read -
For the record, an F.I.R. regarding the online harassment has been filed at the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police, Mandir Marg complex…It is not just one Police complaint against a particular case of virtual harassment. It is about all of us who want to stand together and make India a safer place.
Sohanlal was never tracked down after he walked out of jail. KEM had no file photo of his.
Social Media humiliation shamed Raushan Kumar Pandey into lying. He uploaded a post on his Facebook page saying that his account had been hacked
1980. The BMC wanted Aruna out of the hospital, to free the bed that she had greedily occupied. The nurses who fed, bathed and cared for Aruna protested. For the first time a voice had been raised in Aruna’s case – the BMC slunk away.
And she lay there from then, till this morning, when she passed away. Her 68th birthday was just two weeks away.
It is a party on social media. The messages for Prerna Pratham Singh are unstoppable.
“Salute to you”
“Bravo!”
“Teach that bastard a lesson”
“You are an inspiration. In solidarity.”
“We love you, gal”
We want the applause to echo for Aruna as well.
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