Three pithy lines from a stanza of her poem Amma (mother) sum up Bangladeshi rape victim Saya’s plight. “Do you know how much your daughter suffers?/Your heart will crumble on seeing my plight/My plight is not because I disobeyed you…”
Hope and despair alternate each passing day, as Saya yearns to return home, to Rajarhat of Jessore district in Bangladesh. She entered West Bengal sometime in early May and had fallen into the clutches of a sex racket, which confined her in an apartment at Eranjhipalam of Kozhikode. She was raped, repeatedly, by many men inside that apartment, until she managed to escape.
Saya (the name Kozhikode’s civil society gave her), escaped from captivity on May 28, found her way to a police station and, with the help of some kind locals, got six of her tormentors arrested, including a couple that had cases of sex racket against them earlier.
Before the case came to trial, Saya had come to the end of her hopes and resilience. She attempted suicide by consuming toilet cleaning liquid at the government-run Mahilamandir where she was put up. She desperately wanted to go home. But she was then taken to Nirbhaya, a home for victims of sexual abuse.
Things change here. The poet and painter in 34-year-old Saya come out. On coming to know that she could write and paint, a voluntary organisation, Arm of Joy, decided to translate her poems from Bangla to Malayalam, and organise an exhibition of her paintings.
Twenty paintings in under two weeks, and 18 poems and a short story — the organisers were dazed by her prolific outpourings.
That made Arm of Joy’s managing trustee Anoop G. probe further. With no access to her, replies to queries could come only through authorities at Nirbhaya.
Saya was married to an autorickshaw driver when she was 12 years old. She had the first of her three daughters when she was 14. She had two more girl children even as she took to private classes and passed Class ten and also earned through tailoring and embroidery.
Regular at a library
When asked how she got to write poems, Saya said she was a regular at a local library back home in Bangladesh. Every occasion in her early life was celebrated by buying books, either new or seconds.
What she has been through is poignantly etched all over her poems and short story. Her paintings starkly portray her struggle. On Monday, through Arm of Joy, Kozhikode gave her one lakh takas (Rs.85,000), earned by selling her collection of poems, brought out in a book, and the paintings. “We are not doing her a favour. This is her hard-earned money,” Mr. Anoop said. A letter box titled “To Saya, pyar se (with love), Kozhikode, drew letters of appreciation and solidarity. One of these said on behalf of Kozhikode: “Forgive us for giving you the unforgettable bad experiences in Kerala.” Amid helplessness, she brings help for victims like her.
