Article
Journalists Nidhi Suresh and Ramita Navai with Manisha’s cousin, Neeraj Kuma © Quicksilver Media
Every so often a story turns up to remind us that when it comes to unspeakable callousness, nightmarish plotting and shock twists, real life is frequently more than a match for fiction. Ramita Navai’s investigation of two horrific recent cases in India, where a rape is reported every 15 minutes, bears this out.
The first concerns the anonymised “Jaya”, who at age 17 claimed to have been taken to the house of the most important man in her Uttar Pradesh village for a “job interview” and raped. As if that wasn’t enough, she was subsequently kidnapped from her home by the same man’s thugs and sexually abused for a week. Once rescued, she fled to police, who refused even lodge to her complaints against Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a prominent politician in the ruling BJP party. Pressed to remain silent, Jaya nevertheless persisted, travelling to Lucknow, the state capital, to demand justice from an unmoved chief minister. A clandestine recording has the unrepentant Sengar saying, “whatever happened is done.”
Faced with the family’s refusal to back down, Sengar’s brother Atul led a gang who ambushed and severely beat Jaya’s father. The film showing his injuries — battered mouth with teeth missing, legs running with blood — is shocking. This only ramps up Jaya’s determination further. For every dismissive politician — “our respected, beloved Kuldeep Sengar” — there’s an intrepid lawyer bent on justice. They too pay a price as the story takes another grim turn.
The case of Manisha Valmiki is even more extreme, at least when it comes to the frenzied attempts at a cover-up. After noticing her daughter’s slippers discarded in vegetation, Manisha’s anguished mother found the 19-year-old lying dazed and barely able to speak, having been half-strangled. The family rushed to report the rape and attempted murder to police, only to be refused admittance. The gravely injured young woman, who turned out to have a spinal injury, was left on a concrete slab outside the police station. The film of her lying helpless, trying to whisper her story and the name of her attacker, went viral. But as Manisha was a Dalit, of a lower social class to her attacker, officialdom shrugged.
Enter the Bhim Army, a vocal Dalit protest group determined to press for justice. Fearful doctors at the hospital where Manisha was eventually admitted were pressed to claim that “she didn’t look raped”. Events took another, almost unbelievable turn. But with the media’s help, even the most helpless member of society can gain powerful supporters. Fearless female journalists took up the story, and Seema Samridhi Kushwaha, the prosecutor in the Delhi bus rape case, stepped in. Director Jess Kelly’s film makes for horrendous but necessary viewing.
★★★★☆
Journalists Nidhi Suresh and Ramita Navai with Manisha’s cousin, Neeraj Kuma © Quicksilver Media
Every so often a story turns up to remind us that when it comes to unspeakable callousness, nightmarish plotting and shock twists, real life is frequently more than a match for fiction. Ramita Navai’s investigation of two horrific recent cases in India, where a rape is reported every 15 minutes, bears this out.
The first concerns the anonymised “Jaya”, who at age 17 claimed to have been taken to the house of the most important man in her Uttar Pradesh village for a “job interview” and raped. As if that wasn’t enough, she was subsequently kidnapped from her home by the same man’s thugs and sexually abused for a week. Once rescued, she fled to police, who refused even lodge to her complaints against Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a prominent politician in the ruling BJP party. Pressed to remain silent, Jaya nevertheless persisted, travelling to Lucknow, the state capital, to demand justice from an unmoved chief minister. A clandestine recording has the unrepentant Sengar saying, “whatever happened is done.”
Faced with the family’s refusal to back down, Sengar’s brother Atul led a gang who ambushed and severely beat Jaya’s father. The film showing his injuries — battered mouth with teeth missing, legs running with blood — is shocking. This only ramps up Jaya’s determination further. For every dismissive politician — “our respected, beloved Kuldeep Sengar” — there’s an intrepid lawyer bent on justice. They too pay a price as the story takes another grim turn.
The case of Manisha Valmiki is even more extreme, at least when it comes to the frenzied attempts at a cover-up. After noticing her daughter’s slippers discarded in vegetation, Manisha’s anguished mother found the 19-year-old lying dazed and barely able to speak, having been half-strangled. The family rushed to report the rape and attempted murder to police, only to be refused admittance. The gravely injured young woman, who turned out to have a spinal injury, was left on a concrete slab outside the police station. The film of her lying helpless, trying to whisper her story and the name of her attacker, went viral. But as Manisha was a Dalit, of a lower social class to her attacker, officialdom shrugged.
Enter the Bhim Army, a vocal Dalit protest group determined to press for justice. Fearful doctors at the hospital where Manisha was eventually admitted were pressed to claim that “she didn’t look raped”. Events took another, almost unbelievable turn. But with the media’s help, even the most helpless member of society can gain powerful supporters. Fearless female journalists took up the story, and Seema Samridhi Kushwaha, the prosecutor in the Delhi bus rape case, stepped in. Director Jess Kelly’s film makes for horrendous but necessary viewing.
★★★★☆
