BREAKING THE SILENCE
Disclaimer: This update deals with extremely delicate topic which some readers may find distressing, I'd like to request that they skip the content. This story is not meant to hurt anyone's sentiments.
Just wanted to shed some light into a matter which is inhumane but still persists in some parts of the world including our country.
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A girl of 11, taken to a dark room.
She had no ounce of idea what horrible was going to happen to her.
The curtains were drawn and all she could see were two women coming towards her.
They told her to lay down, and she obeyed them as an obedient child oblivious of the consequences.
Her aunt clutched her hands tightly and the other woman used ropes to tie her legs apart.
The oldish lady pulled down her pants and she began crying.
Her aunt, who was standing beside her, told her not to worry as it would be over in a moment.
They were each holding one of her legs.
The old lady took the heated razor blade and the WORST HAPPENED.
She was fighting as hard as she could, but they were stronger.
She was screaming, crying... but instead of rescuing her, her Aunt stood there silently and watched her niece be brutalized.
They chopped everything....
Everywhere was blood and the little girl continued screaming in that dark room...
She shrieked in unbearable pain and the old lady put some black powder there...
She was shattered, the feeling of betrayal broke her.
She came home and cried and cried and cried...
She felt betrayed. Her mother had lied that her aunt would buy her chocolates which is why she had accompanied her. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that her own mother would allow her aunt to do such a cruel thing to her.
The wound gradually healed, but the scar was still visible with the naked eye.
The incident scarred her to death.
It closed her up completely.
She was in trauma for many days.
She was difficult to be handled, extremely insecure.
Her self-esteem was low.
She grew up but the harrowing experience, the darkness of that room haunted her for years.
THE DAY CAN NEVER BE FORGOTTEN...
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The events of that traumatic day were replaying under her eyelids.
A lone tear escaped as she opened her eyes on feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Anokhi..." he said in a calm voice.
He was aware of what she was going through.
Today is her birthday but she is no longer with the family who did the cruelty to her. She had left them long ago.
Shaurya slowly and carefully drew her into his embrace, and she burst into tears as she buried her face deep into his chest.
It ached his heart to see her like this. It pained him.
He wanted to yell at those who had done this to her. He wanted to throw them in jail right away because they deserved it. Indeed, he believed they deserved to die for what they had done to an 11-year-old girl.
Shaurya shivered just thinking about the excruciating pain she must have endured during the procedure that too in a tender age of eleven.
How could anyone be so cruel?
Why do they believe in such ridiculous superstitions?
What a heinous and inhumane act.
How can a parent do this to their own child?
He was agitated and disgusted that such people existed in society.
Seeing Anokhi's state, he was in tears himself.
Anokhi was silently sobbing.
She wants to forget it but is unable to do so.
How could she ?
When the people she loved with all her heart had betrayed her, had hurt her, believed in other people's nonsense, and agreed to do that barbaric act with her when she was a child.
Shaurya was stroking her back constantly, and she was comforted by his warmth.
They remained in the same position for a while.
After some time Anokhi pulled back.
She wiped her tears away and looked at Shaurya through puffy teary eyes.
Shaurya nodded, indicating that he doesn't want her to cry any more.
She felt lucky to have Shaurya in her life.
Anokhi didn't have any friends. She had trust issues but then she met Shaurya. He was the person who could understand her better than she could, and who loved her unconditionally.
They had met each other at a campaign during their internship period. Both were freshers at that time.
They had became good friends at the campaign, though Anokhi didn't talk much.
Gradually with time, Anokhi began to find peace in his presence, in his company. She got used to him.
Shaurya also started to understand the causes of her anxiety.
At times, she used to fight with him, isolated herself, didn't share anything as she was suffering from depression.
But Shaurya never left her.
He gave her alone time, suggested her for therapy.
At first, she wasn't ready but Shaurya insisted, made her understand the need for it.
She then started attending the therapy sessions on a regular basis.
Slowly, she was able to open up and Shaurya also to got know her better.
He's the one who's always comforted her and understood her in her darkest hours.
For Shaurya, Anokhi was a woman of strong will-power, a woman who was fighting for others even though she was a victim herself.
It must have been very hard for her to deal with people when she herself has experienced the pain.
Anokhi was initially very hesitant when she was going to share her past with Shaurya. She feared what if he left her. She had no one except him. She didn't want to loose him. But she had faith, somewhere she knew that he will not abandon her.
Shaurya was horrified when he came to know that Anokhi was a victim of FEMALE GENITIAL MUTILATION (FGM) in childhood. He couldn't help but pull Anokhi into a tight hug as if trying to transfer her share of pain to himself. He cried on the mere thought of pain she must have gone through. Knowing about a loved one who had been through so much broke him.
After that he was able to understand the reasons behind her closed nature, her anxieties.
He fell for her, for her strongness, for her determination, for her nature of never backing down to address the wrongdoing.
Both Anokhi and Shaurya are child rights activists and are also associated with the NGO, "SAHIYO" whose aim is to advocate women rights and to bring an end to the practice of female genital cutting (also known as female genital mutilation or female circumcision), which has been recognized as a human rights violation by the WHO (World Health Organisation), United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
One of the main objective of FGM is to control the girl's sexual urges.
FGM is a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured or changed, but there's no medical reason for this to be done.
It is often linked to virginity and being faithful during marriage.
It is done to prevent girls from exploring their sexuality before marriage so that the husband can get hundred percent surety that he has got a virgin bride.
This is really shameful, brutal, and regressive.
It is the most inhuman and treacherous practice in the human race and the existence of the practice is a real challenge and shame to the humanity.
The abuse leaves women physically, psychologically and sexually damaged.
FGM causes severe bleeding, injury to genital tissue, fevers, urinary problems, infections like tetanus, cysts, complications in childbirth, among other health issues. In the long-term, women can suffer psychological problems like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder.
FGM is violence against girls, a violation against human rights.
The sad truth to this painful process is the fact that it is a practice being done to women by other women.
Unfortunately, no law in India bans this.
India does not as yet have a law against FGM, mainly because the government had denied the existence of the practice.
In India, the Government has claimed that there is no record of data on FGM. Although it is important to note that since FGM is not banned by any specific legislation in India, there can be no concrete record on the number of cases.
Despite provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) that could deal with FGM, the tradition has prevailed for decades.
Anokhi and Shaurya, both as citizens felt the need to do something to stop these types of practices, to fight for the basic human rights.
They felt the need to BREAK THE SILENCE regarding these heinous acts.
They have carried out numerous campaigns across the country and have prevented many girl children from being mutilated. Both of them are now somewhere satisfied that they are doing their part to stop it.
Today, Anokhi has came out of the trauma and the reason behind this is Shaurya too.
She had not expected a man to understand a woman's pain as well as Shaurya did.
She had no idea that in a society where women can be so brutal to other women, there are men like Shaurya who will go to any length to stop and abolish these practices.
She never ever thought that she will find someone who would stand by her side.
But he was the one she found always by her side.
It wasn't sympathy.
It was PURE LOVE...
THE END...
FGM is still practiced by some communities, therefore tried to spread awareness about it.
Thank you for reading.
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