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| RANJANA |
Ranjana Kumari* has no choice. At 15, she is a single mother of an 11-month-old baby.
Even though she was a promising bright student, Ranjana had to give up school to become a full time mother.
Rukhsar Khatun*, 16, also revealed how her life and dreams were shattered when she became a single parent.
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| RUKHSAR |
But what makes their situation even more heartbreaking is that their babies were born after they were allegedly raped.
Ranjana, the only daughter of a carpenter who lives in India's impoverished Bihar state, was attacked by a 25-year-old man.
In November 2013, she was on her way home from a school celebration of the Goddess Lakshmi festival when suddenly the man pulled her into a secluded area and shoved her scarf into her mouth.
She remembered, 'I was at school. At 3pm I began the walk home alone but suddenly out of nowhere I was dragged from behind.
'I was in my school uniform, a salwar kameez, and he ripped it and put my scarf in my mouth so I couldn't shout.
'I was numb and I was shivering and crying. I kept struggling but his weight on me was just too heavy.'
The man raped her for 30 minutes and afterwards threatened to hurt and humiliate her if anyone found out.
It turned out that her attacker had been following Ranjana to and from school for sometime.
He had knocked at her door several months earlier collecting for a local music festival and she had given him a donation of 100Rs (£1).
Ranjana said: 'After I'd given him the donation he started asking me my name and where I studied. He was a big man and I was a little scared but I answered his questions and he left.'
Five days later she spotted the him following her to school.
'I thought it was a coincidence but he would smile at me and sing songs and shout that he loved me.
'I didn't feel confident enough to tell anyone because of the fear of humiliation. In our village people always blame the girls for attracting attention.'
A short drive from Ranjana's village, Rukhsar, whose name has also been changed, shared the a similar, disturbing story.
She has been nursing her three-month-old son Sheikh who was conceived after she was assaulted.
'I was raped during school hours,' she said, 'He is from our village and we all used to call him uncle.
'But one day he called me into one of the school rooms. I knew him so I didn't fear him. He asked me about my family and then suddenly he asked what I thought of him.
'I was puzzled. He told me he liked me and he started touching me. As I tried to leave he grabbed me. I scream but he covered my mouth with his hands. He then raped me.'
Rukhsar cried all the way home. The normal 15-minute walk took her an hour that day.
'I was barely able to walk,' she said. 'I was shivering and could not believe that I'd been raped.
'When I got home I didn't tell my parents because I feared they'd stop me going to school. I didn't want to finish my studies.
The young mothers are among a growing number of teenage rape victims who have been left pregnant or holding new babies in Katihar, eastern India.
'I was a bright student and was very passionate about my life but he snatched it away,' Ranjana said.
'I love my son but he has turned my life upside down. I cannot see any happiness in my future any more.'
A series of high-profile rape cases in India have sparked international outrage in recent years, leading to tougher punishments for sexual offences.
But in rural parts of the country, it is still an issue many young girls fear with a very low rate of prosecution.
Tens of teen victims in various rural villages are struggling to raise the children they have been forced to have following rape attacks.
But even more tragic is that the dreams of the teenage victims to study, get a job and marry in the future are all thwarted because they have to abandon their studies and live with the stigma of being an unwed mother – something considered shameful in traditional Indian societies.
The men accused of rape are often well connected and escape the law by forcing the victims' families to accept money in return for dropping the case.
In fact, there have been several reports recently of 'panchayats', local self-government council leaders, forcing victims to accept money and not report the incident to the police.
In January a panchayat in Bihar ordered one of its members accused of rape to pay the woman 40,000Rs (£400). The victim was then told to forget the incident.
Both Ranjana and Rukhsar, who had dreams of becoming teachers, tried to forget the incidents and carry on with their lives.
They were too terrified of humiliation to tell their parents and even more scared of their parents stopping them going back to school.
But their lives were soon shattered when they learnt they had conceived an 'unwanted' child.
Ranjana said: 'I learnt I was pregnant at four months. I had missed periods but I had no idea it was because I had conceived a child. My stomach had bloated and I felt tired and dizzy. One day I told my friend my periods had stopped and she told me I could be pregnant.'
Ranjana was terrified of telling her mother - she knew the consequences.
'I knew my parents would be devastated,' she said. 'I know what it meant for an unmarried girl to be pregnant in our village. But I was trapped, I had to tell them.'
Ranjana's mother cried and cried. For them, the life they knew was over.
'I refused to abort the baby,' she added. 'Firstly it's not the baby's fault and secondly, I knew if the baby was born, I could prove the rape and the chances of him marrying me or getting arrested would be far greater.'
For many victims of rape in Bihar - and many other rural areas of India - it is far more 'honourable' for a rape victim to marry their attacker.
The victim's family end up desperate for the attacker to do the right thing otherwise their daughter will be left unworthy of marriage for life.
Mohammad Farooque Alam, 41, who works as a social worker with Manav Sansadhan Vikas Mantralaya, in Katihar, explained the delay in many arrests in rape cases in Bihar is because parents hope the rapists will eventually marry their daughter.
He said: 'The number of child rapes are unbelievably high but most of them get unreported because of social pressures,' he says.
'Victims go to the rapist's families first and hope there's a marriage, or they go to Kangaroo courts for justice who in turn suggest compromising the matter for Rs 10,000 (£100).
'In most cases the police play a positive role. When there is an FIR or they come to know about a rape case, they register the case immediately and investigate the matter but the case in question may not have been reported for months and by this time any 'evidence' is long gone.'
Superintendent of Katihar Police, Kshatrnil Singh, 37, said: 'Whenever a report is filed, we take action. We try our best to make girls aware and the society about their right to justice. We ask the help of NGOs to make women aware in rural areas.
'I have alerted every station and villages in this area that no one should listen to Panchayat (village councillors). There is no mediation through kangaroo courts.
We encourage the victims in villages to come forward. There are times when victims depend on kangaroo courts for justice and so then there is a delay in filing complaints and ultimately getting justice. I appeal to these village councillors to stay away from the law and let police do their work.'
Ranjana was desperate for her rapist to marry her and not leave her an 'unwed' mother.
She said: 'When my parents came to know about the rape they went straight to his house and my father begged him to accept the child and marry me but he said I was lying and threatened to kill me. I knew then my life was over.
'Any dreams I had of finishing school, get a job and marry a good man and start a family in the proper way was gone forever. He had cast me aside like rubbish.
Ranjana gave birth to her child at a government hospital in Katihar, in August last year. She now spends all day every day in her home, hiding from the community and the shame of having a child after rape.
She said: 'I look at my child now and cry every day. Our lives are ruined. No man will ever love or care for us now. What will I tell him when he grows up? I do not know what my future holds but I have to go on, somehow I have to keep living.'
DailyMail
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