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The women refugees are currently staying in Ambedkar Colony. Photograph: ABHISHEK SHUKLA
he Hindu women refugees who arrived in India last week are happy to
be here. Jamuna, a 20-year-old woman, who bears a stark resemblance to
actress Freida Pinto, said that she had spent most of her teenage years
confined inside her home as she was afraid that she would be abducted
like other Hindu women. "I am happy to be in India as here I can live
freely without the fear of being kidnapped and raped because I am a
Hindu woman," Jamuna told this newspaper.
Her mother, Sheela Das (55), said that Jamuna's beauty had made her
life miserable. "Muslim men had started eyeing her even when she was 13.
We were not able to send her to school because of this. Whatever she
has learnt has been taught at home by her grandfather," Sheela said.
Naina, who has two children, Gayatri and Kailash, said it was a
difficult choice to leave her birthplace but the conditions had worsened
to the extent that this exodus was the only way out. "The status of
women in our region has deteriorated a lot in the last three-four years.
We used to live in the constant fear of being raped or converted," she
said.
Almost all the women refugees whom this correspondent met at a house
in Ambedkar Colony in Delhi's Bijwasan area described their life in
Pakistan as nothing short of hell. "My parents had stayed back during
the time of Partition as they were well settled there. But look at
Hyderabad in Sindh now. The incidence of Hindu teenage girls being raped
is increasing. This did not happen earlier," said Sheela.
Although the men expressed their willingness to return if they are
promised protection, the women were determined in their resistance to
the idea. They interrupted the conversation several times to put across
their point strongly. "The condition of men may be acceptable, but we as
women cannot go there. The freedom that we are feeling here is hard to
express. Right now I am talking to you, but that could not have been
possible in Pakistan," Jamuna said.
Jamuna, the most vocal of the lot, added that her home in Sindh was
now occupied by her Muslim neighbours. "Our relatives who are still
there said that our house was taken over by a Muslim family, who like us
are into managing gardens. But I have no regrets. We will start a new
life here."
Source: http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/women-feared-kidnap-rape-while-in-pakistan
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