Too many questions, we want to leave Delhi: Amanat’s family
25 Jan 2013 2:09 AM GMT
With the hysteria that followed the gang rape of Amanat (the name given to the Vasant Vihar gang rape victim by Justice JS Verma Commission) having ebbed, the members of her family are trying to come to terms with reality. While there has been support across the nation for the victim and the family, the latter now feels staying in their old house is getting difficult. They say the prying eyes of their neighbours follow them everywhere. While the father and the elder brother want to stay put in Delhi, her mother and younger brother want to move out of their Mahavir Enclave residence in the Dwarka area of west Delhi.
Talking to this reporter, the mother and the younger brother said they find it difficult to address any query that come their way regarding Amanat. They don’t even feel like stepping out of their house. ‘They are passing through a phase of social guilt trauma. There are certain values which are held sacrosanct in our society. They are feeling guilty at the loss of these values,’ says professor Navin Kumar, who teaches psychology in Delhi University.
All that Amanat’s mother yearns for is fast track court justice for her daughter and the noose for the accused so that it becomes a deterrent for those who want to commit such brutal acts. The mother says she had a premonition of the evil that befell her daughter. ‘I had tried to call her but she disconnected, saying she would call back once she got into the bus. The moment she tried to make a call, those men snatched away her phone and threw it away. After that I kept on trying her number, but nobody picked up,’ said the traumatised mother.
‘I still wait for her every evening around 8 pm at the doorstep with the hope that she might return,’ she said. She wants to move out because she wants a good future for her other two children, in a place where people won’t turn around to comment if her son is the brother of Amanat. She wants her son to grow up at some place where he is not haunted by his sister’s memory.
Amanat’s brother, who is preparing for his engineering entrance examinations, said: ‘After the incident, I could not spend a single second with my books. I miss her. She was the one who always used to guide me. I miss our quarrels. We used to sit and study together. Now, all I am left with is her books. Her voice echoes in this room. I don’t feel like staying in this house and this locality which makes me remember all that again and again. Though the Capital as well as the entire nation is supporting us, there are some people who put questions that turn out to be really embarrassing and it takes me back to the day of incident.’
Amanat’s father, though, put up a brave front. ‘My daughter was the pillar of our lives. She was a brilliant student and she worked at a call centre while pursuing her paramedical course in Dehradun to help out the family in every possible way. Since she was in class 9, she used to give tuitions and pay her own as well as her younger brother’s school fees. She was a girl of courage and grit and someone who would never compromise her self respect. I have so many things to learn from her. I will not run away. I will fight back and make sure that justice doesn’t get delayed. My wife and son are getting emotional and thinking of leaving this place but the decision of when to leave would be mine,’ he said.
HELP COMES FROM DELHI GOVERNMENT
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday handed over a cheque of Rs 15 lakh as ex-gratia amount to Amanat’s father at her residence. Dikshit assured the family of all possible help in getting out of the trauma of the unfortunate incident of 16 December last year. She also said her government would explore the possibility of providing a flat to the family and help in the education of their two sons and make them earning members. West Delhi Lok Sabha MP Mahabal Mishra and Parliamentary Secretary to CM Mukesh Sharma were also present.
Talking to this reporter, the mother and the younger brother said they find it difficult to address any query that come their way regarding Amanat. They don’t even feel like stepping out of their house. ‘They are passing through a phase of social guilt trauma. There are certain values which are held sacrosanct in our society. They are feeling guilty at the loss of these values,’ says professor Navin Kumar, who teaches psychology in Delhi University.
All that Amanat’s mother yearns for is fast track court justice for her daughter and the noose for the accused so that it becomes a deterrent for those who want to commit such brutal acts. The mother says she had a premonition of the evil that befell her daughter. ‘I had tried to call her but she disconnected, saying she would call back once she got into the bus. The moment she tried to make a call, those men snatched away her phone and threw it away. After that I kept on trying her number, but nobody picked up,’ said the traumatised mother.
‘I still wait for her every evening around 8 pm at the doorstep with the hope that she might return,’ she said. She wants to move out because she wants a good future for her other two children, in a place where people won’t turn around to comment if her son is the brother of Amanat. She wants her son to grow up at some place where he is not haunted by his sister’s memory.
Amanat’s brother, who is preparing for his engineering entrance examinations, said: ‘After the incident, I could not spend a single second with my books. I miss her. She was the one who always used to guide me. I miss our quarrels. We used to sit and study together. Now, all I am left with is her books. Her voice echoes in this room. I don’t feel like staying in this house and this locality which makes me remember all that again and again. Though the Capital as well as the entire nation is supporting us, there are some people who put questions that turn out to be really embarrassing and it takes me back to the day of incident.’
Amanat’s father, though, put up a brave front. ‘My daughter was the pillar of our lives. She was a brilliant student and she worked at a call centre while pursuing her paramedical course in Dehradun to help out the family in every possible way. Since she was in class 9, she used to give tuitions and pay her own as well as her younger brother’s school fees. She was a girl of courage and grit and someone who would never compromise her self respect. I have so many things to learn from her. I will not run away. I will fight back and make sure that justice doesn’t get delayed. My wife and son are getting emotional and thinking of leaving this place but the decision of when to leave would be mine,’ he said.
HELP COMES FROM DELHI GOVERNMENT
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday handed over a cheque of Rs 15 lakh as ex-gratia amount to Amanat’s father at her residence. Dikshit assured the family of all possible help in getting out of the trauma of the unfortunate incident of 16 December last year. She also said her government would explore the possibility of providing a flat to the family and help in the education of their two sons and make them earning members. West Delhi Lok Sabha MP Mahabal Mishra and Parliamentary Secretary to CM Mukesh Sharma were also present.
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