Why no one remembers Delhi’s Gudiya, raped and left with bottle inside her

A five-year-old gang-rape victim was found with candles and plastic bottles in her body in April 2013. Four years later, she is still fighting a lonely battle to bring her perpetrators to justice.

The minor, who came to be known as Gudiya, was held captive by a neighbour who raped and brutalised her. Coming on the heels of the infamous December 16 gang-rape of a paramedical student, the incident evoked widespread outrage.

Political leaders such as Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, the then health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, senior BJP leader Vijay Goel, made a beeline for seeing the child battling for her life at AIIMS.

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“Initially, we got support from everywhere. But after six months, we were left alone. We have been running from pillar to post to get justice. No compensation was paid and no job was offered despite promises. Somehow, we managed to get Gudiya admitted in a Gurgaon school with the help of a journalist when the government did not help,” said Gudiya’s father.

Delhi Commission for Women chairperson, Swati Jaihind, promised to look into the case on being asked about what was being done for Gudiya. “”This is reflective of how the system is working and how a rape survivor has to suffer. We need to build an effective rehabilitation policy for survivors where the state supports the survivor in leading her life,” Jaihind said.

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The family complained that despite four years having passed since the incident, the case is still on trial at Karkardooma court and one accused was set free after being in a correction home for some time as he was a juvenile.

“We have challenged the court judgment declaring one of the accused as juvenile. The investigating officer is to be examined. The case initially got all the attention. People were standing with us but now we are pursuing the matter alone except some help from Kailash Satyarthi’s organisation,” said Gudiya’s paternal uncle.

To strengthen their fight, Gudiya’s family has joined hands with relatives of child sexual abuse victims from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Bihar, and Delhi to support Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s countrywide march — Bharat Yatra. The move aims to create awareness about child rape, sexual harassment, and trafficking.

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The yatra, which starts on September 11 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, will pass through 22 states and cover 15,000 kilometres in about 35 days. It also plans to engage about one crore people and sensitise law enforcement agencies handling such cases.

Satyarthi said his yatra is war against child sexual abuse and trafficking in the country. “I refuse to accept that the innocence, smiles and freedom of our children can keep getting stripped and raped. These are not ordinary crimes. This is a moral epidemic haunting our nation,” he said.