Day 37
It’s getting really cold in Chandigarh. It’s a different
kind of winter here; the temperatures don’t go anywhere as low as they do in
New York, but there’s no heating indoors so it’s pretty much just as cold
inside the house (if not more) as it is outside. It’s strange seeing your
breath as you sit in bed. We wear lots of layers here, sleeping in flannel
pants and sweatshirts, covered in multiple warm blankets.
We started our New Year last night sitting with our family
here in India, cuddled up together in bed, watching a broadcast of a program in
a Delhi Gurdwara on TV. I love starting
the year with simran and prayers; it
always makes me feel at peace. Wishing you all a wonderful new year filled with
joy and success. Happy 2013!
Day 38
On December 16th, 2012, a woman was brutally attacked
on a bus in Delhi. Going home after watching a movie together, the 23-year-old
woman and her 28-year-old boyfriend had boarded a public bus, not knowing that
the five male passengers already onboard were taking the bus for a joyride with
the driver. The five men began taunting the couple, and when the woman’s friend
tried protecting her, he was beaten, gagged, and knocked unconscious. The five
men then dragged the woman to the rear of the bus, beat her with an iron rod,
raped her repeatedly, and then shoved the iron rod into her vagina, causing
massive internal damage to her abdomen and intestines. The attackers then
stopped the bus and threw the couple outside onto the street. They were
determined to kill the couple, as they tried to run them over with the bus, but
the woman’s friend pulled her away. The two victims lay naked and unconscious
on the street for almost half an hour, until finally a passerby called the
police. The woman died thirteen days later in a hospital in Singapore.
As gruesome as this attack was, the response of the Delhi
police was probably just as inhumane. According to the woman’s friend, the
police arrived at the scene from multiple police stations after about 30 to 45
minutes. The officers then stood at the scene to discuss under which station’s
jurisdiction the case fell. Nobody gave the couple clothes to cover themselves,
and nobody called an ambulance. It took a total of two and a half hours for the
couple to reach a hospital from the time they were thrown off the bus. And it
wasn’t even a nearby hospital; they were taken to a hospital that was far away.
In response to this horrific attack, protests have started
all over India. (Don’t even get me started on the police brutality that ensued
during the protests.) Protesters called for a “Bharat Bandh” tomorrow, January
3rd, 2012. “Bharat Bandh” is basically what it translates to:
various organizations gets together and shut down for the day in protest. This
includes shops, transportation, offices, etc.
Fortunately, this attack is generating a lot of attention
and international concern. We can only hope it will spark some changes in the
way rape cases are dealt with, the method in which the police conducts their
business, and the way society views women. It’s about time for reform.
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