Popular Malayalam dubbing artist Bhagya Lakshmi took to Facebook recently to share the story of a gang rape victim from Thrissur district of Kerala. In her post in Malayalam, Bhagya Lakshmi elaborated on her meeting with the victim three weeks ago, which brought to light a crime that happened almost two years ago. The victim, aged between 35-40 years, was gang raped by four of her husband’s friends, including a politician, she said.
After the post went viral, the Chief Minister’s office has reportedly reached out to Bhagya Lakshmi and promised action.
“For those of you who will read this, this might look like a cinema story. But it isn’t,” she began her post.
Bhagya Lakshmi then goes on to write about how a desperate phone call from a woman one night had disturbed her, following which, she agreed to meet the woman in person.
“She was accompanied by her husband, who stepped out saying his wife shall speak to me freely without his presence. Amidst continuous sobs, she told me how four of her husband’s friends-whom she had considered as her own brothers-raped her one after the other two years ago. They had threatened her not to reveal the incident, lest they would release video footage of the rape,” Bhagya Lakshmi wrote.
When the woman’s husband prodded further on noticing her odd behavior, she revealed the incident after nearly three months. Upon her husband’s insistence, she filed a police complaint.
“Based on my complaint, all the four men were called to the police station. The inspector then asked me which one of the four men gave me maximum pleasure. Maybe it is because they realized I had little evidence to prove the rape,” Bhagya Lakshmi quotes the woman as saying.
Devastated, the victim withdrew her complaint.
“She told me that Nirbhaya, Soumya and Jisha were fortunate to have died post being raped. Otherwise, they would have had to go through several rounds of mental rape, just like her,” Bhagya Lakshmi wrote.
After the post went viral, The Times of India reported that the Chief Minister’s office reached out to the artist to make inquiries about the incident.
“She was so scared. She couldn't even tell her husband about it. I counselled her for two weeks. When I asked if I could write about her on Facebook, she said yes. She said that she is not scared anymore,'' Bhagya Lakshmi told TOI.
The report also quotes chief secretary to the CM as saying that the government will take up the matter in all its seriousness.
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