India 'fightback' sisters: Has the fight gone out of them?
18 May 2015
Six months after two Indian sisters made headlines when a video showing them fight three alleged molesters on a bus went viral, there is still no clarity on what happened that afternoon and there remain many unanswered questions. BBC Hindi's Divya Arya travels to the northern town of Rohtak to investigate. On 28 November, 22-year-old Aarti and 19-year-old Pooja boarded a state-run bus on their way home from college. In the 40-second video of that bus ride, Pooja can be seen hitting a man with a belt while he holds Aarti down by her collar. The second man is partially hidden behind his friend. The third man is not seen and at what point he joins the duo is still unclear. The three men were arrested on charges of sexual harassment but later released on bail. They have denied the allegations against them. Local police chief Shashank Anand said it took a long time to trace witnesses as the road transport department does not keep a list of passengers. "Identifying passengers was a painstaking process, even after we traced them, only a few agreed to testify and they too requested that their identities be kept secret," he said. Pradeep Malik, the lawyer representing the accused men, showed us many signed statements saying they were from the passengers on the bus. "All these witnesses tell us the truth behind the video," he says. "They said there was no sexual harassment, and that the sisters started the fight for a seat on the bus." The statements, copies of which are with the BBC, narrate the same sequence of events. In fact, two statements are identical except for the names and signatures of the witnesses. The sisters' lawyer, Attar Singh Pawar, alleges that the statements are fabricated and the investigators are not making enough effort to verify them. "Three women who are being presented as witnesses were in their village at the time of the incident, but when other villagers came to the police to testify, their statements were not taken." At first glance, their life looks unchanged, except for the constant presence of policewomen who have been assigned to protect the sisters. Aarti and Pooja appear calm, but beneath their calm exterior, something seems different. Pooja says if faced with sexual harassment again, they won't fight back. "We will always be haunted by the crying faces of our parents. They have heard nasty remarks about us from the police and faced pressure to withdraw the case," she says. The sisters were hailed as heroines, but things changed a few days later when a second video emerged showing them attacking another man. "The Haryana state government which had announced an award to honour our bravery cancelled it later, and that has lowered our credibility," says Aarti. "Now everyone questions our character, they say we go looking for trouble and assault people for money. Their real problem is with women raising their voice." The sisters allege that during a lie-detector test that they agreed to take as part of the investigation, they were subjected to humiliating questions about their sexual history - a charge police refused to comment on. The main accused Kuldeep, 20, is soft spoken and appears too shy to meet my eyes while answering my questions. On being asked if his friends tease him for getting beaten up by women, he shakes his head to say "no". Deepak, another accused, is more forthcoming: "There is no sexual harassment in our area or on that bus route. Nothing happened that afternoon, the women just stood up and started beating Kuldeep with a belt. "The police should have done something by now, our mind is not at peace and there is constant stress, especially about our careers," he says. Kuldeep and Deepak had cleared an initial test to join the army, but after they were charged with sexual harassment, they were barred from appearing in the final exam. In two years, they will be past the maximum age limit for the exam. "Our entire village is supporting us and that's a big relief. Otherwise, these days only women's voice is being heard everywhere," says Kuldeep. A mere mention of Aarti and Pooja in the village has many men sniggering and there is consensus on who is at fault in that incident. "If girls kept beating up boys like this, all boys would be dead, then what would the girls do?" an old man asks. The women celebrate the fightback. Haryana is infamous for having the lowest sex ratio in India, and such incidents are rare. A group of middle-aged women giggle as one of them says, "I haven't seen the video, but have heard that the sisters used their leather belt like a whip. That is fantastic." It is not unfettered support though. Sexual harassment or eveteasing - as it is locally known - is considered "normal" with a certain level of "accepted" tolerance. "Why did they react? So many girls travel on buses, they don't go around beating boys," says one woman. Female students in Aarti and Pooja's college too see them as "heroines". "Who doesn't want to react? We face harassment every day, but we have to be patient. If only we knew that our parents would support us the way these sisters' parents did, we wouldn't be scared to fight back either," says a student.
On 28 November, 22-year-old Aarti and 19-year-old Pooja boarded a state-run bus on their way home from college. In the 40-second video of that bus ride, Pooja can be seen hitting a man with a belt while he holds Aarti down by her collar. The second man is partially hidden behind his friend. The third man is not seen and at what point he joins the duo is still unclear. The three men were arrested on charges of sexual harassment but later released on bail. They have denied the allegations against them. Local police chief Shashank Anand said it took a long time to trace witnesses as the road transport department does not keep a list of passengers. "Identifying passengers was a painstaking process, even after we traced them, only a few agreed to testify and they too requested that their identities be kept secret," he said. Pradeep Malik, the lawyer representing the accused men, showed us many signed statements saying they were from the passengers on the bus. "All these witnesses tell us the truth behind the video," he says. "They said there was no sexual harassment, and that the sisters started the fight for a seat on the bus." The statements, copies of which are with the BBC, narrate the same sequence of events. In fact, two statements are identical except for the names and signatures of the witnesses. The sisters' lawyer, Attar Singh Pawar, alleges that the statements are fabricated and the investigators are not making enough effort to verify them. "Three women who are being presented as witnesses were in their village at the time of the incident, but when other villagers came to the police to testify, their statements were not taken."
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Why has the investigation dragged on?
At first glance, their life looks unchanged, except for the constant presence of policewomen who have been assigned to protect the sisters. Aarti and Pooja appear calm, but beneath their calm exterior, something seems different. Pooja says if faced with sexual harassment again, they won't fight back. "We will always be haunted by the crying faces of our parents. They have heard nasty remarks about us from the police and faced pressure to withdraw the case," she says. The sisters were hailed as heroines, but things changed a few days later when a second video emerged showing them attacking another man. "The Haryana state government which had announced an award to honour our bravery cancelled it later, and that has lowered our credibility," says Aarti. "Now everyone questions our character, they say we go looking for trouble and assault people for money. Their real problem is with women raising their voice." The sisters allege that during a lie-detector test that they agreed to take as part of the investigation, they were subjected to humiliating questions about their sexual history - a charge police refused to comment on.
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Has anything changed for the sisters?
The main accused Kuldeep, 20, is soft spoken and appears too shy to meet my eyes while answering my questions. On being asked if his friends tease him for getting beaten up by women, he shakes his head to say "no". Deepak, another accused, is more forthcoming: "There is no sexual harassment in our area or on that bus route. Nothing happened that afternoon, the women just stood up and started beating Kuldeep with a belt. "The police should have done something by now, our mind is not at peace and there is constant stress, especially about our careers," he says. Kuldeep and Deepak had cleared an initial test to join the army, but after they were charged with sexual harassment, they were barred from appearing in the final exam. In two years, they will be past the maximum age limit for the exam. "Our entire village is supporting us and that's a big relief. Otherwise, these days only women's voice is being heard everywhere," says Kuldeep.
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Where are the accused?
A mere mention of Aarti and Pooja in the village has many men sniggering and there is consensus on who is at fault in that incident. "If girls kept beating up boys like this, all boys would be dead, then what would the girls do?" an old man asks. The women celebrate the fightback. Haryana is infamous for having the lowest sex ratio in India, and such incidents are rare. A group of middle-aged women giggle as one of them says, "I haven't seen the video, but have heard that the sisters used their leather belt like a whip. That is fantastic." It is not unfettered support though. Sexual harassment or eveteasing - as it is locally known - is considered "normal" with a certain level of "accepted" tolerance. "Why did they react? So many girls travel on buses, they don't go around beating boys," says one woman. Female students in Aarti and Pooja's college too see them as "heroines". "Who doesn't want to react? We face harassment every day, but we have to be patient. If only we knew that our parents would support us the way these sisters' parents did, we wouldn't be scared to fight back either," says a student.
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Has the video had any impact on the villagers?