An 18-year-old girl was tortured, her hair cut off, and paraded in a semi-naked condition across the village by family members of her second husband in a Birbhaum village on Sunday night. In the face of strong mob sentiment the husband could do little to protest. Neither could her family members. The girl's father said they were very poor and could not protest as they had been threatened. He didn't even dare to take his daughter to the hospital. The groom and his family have fled the village.
It was only on Monday that the local authorities got to know, when they came and took the girl to the hospital.
The girl was married, but when her marriage failed, she came back home. Anyone familiar with Indian custom would know that this marriage would have been arranged by her family. Anyone who knows what Indian society is all about would also know that coming home, the child probably realized the unwelcome situation she put herself and her family in, and the burden she would be on her already burdened father. The child must have also come face to face with an unrelentingly merciless society. So, when she got an opportunity, she must have decided to marry a second time. I am sure she found herself driven to taking this step.
Angry, frustrated, helpless questions and feelings are raging and surging in my brain and heart. (Our putrid society offers no solace or solution to a girl in these circumstances). What must she be going through? How will she resolve the pain? How will the child ever come to terms with this? What will she do now?
I would want all the women who read my blog to join me in sending this young girl all our love and strength. There is great power in thought and if we all send her our collective force, it will surely have an effect...