#BreakStereotypes
True Diamond : Jitendra Chatter - an act of true love in the face of human rights abuse
12:52:00
An act of true love in the face of a human rights abuse.
Rape. One word that traumatises the victim and can rile up the passions and opinions of an entire society. As a survivor however, the stigma lingers. As a society we have come together to collectively condemn this woeful and heinous abuse of women’s rights.
Image Credit: http://www.thegulfindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/lead-pic-delhi-rape-protests-1.jpg
Sure we’ve managed to gain some amount of legislation that guarantees swifter prosecution of the perpetrators and tougher punishments. But to the survivors themselves, our society still maintains a rather dispassionate, often times cruel and nearly sadistic attitude. Rape victims are very often ostracised just as much as the rapist themselves. Their families are shamed, boycotted and most often rape survivors are left out of functions and even unmarried.
In a sea of such widespread apathy then, this story is a beautiful example of true love in the face of a heinous human rights abuse. Meet Jitender Chattar, 29, a farmer from Haryana. As a man from this particularly feudal and patriarchal place, what he’s recently accomplished can only be called heroic. When the time came for him to choose a spouse, he chose to marry a rape survivor, a huge statement in this state, which is plagued by an enormous sex crime problem.
What makes this story even more incredible is the fact that this remarkable young man, has not only married a socially ostracised woman, but is also helping her seek justice for herself and
others like her, by enrolling her into law school and funding her law studies! Jitender has also become one of the staunchest advocates of tougher punishments on rape and is one of the founding members of the movement, “Youth Against Rapes”.
He is also seeking the intervention of the Chief Minister’s office in the apprehension and prosecution of one of the perpetrators, in his wife’s case. For his efforts, Jitender has earned the ire of the local ‘society’ (notoriously known as ‘khap’) and several run-ins with the law with the accused’s family filing false cases against him. In all this too, Jitender wills to fight on, educate his wife and make an example of the people who did this to her.
Jitender’s spouse who wishes to remain unnamed has this to say about her doting husband, “since the day we got engaged, except for discussion with lawyer or in court we don’t talk about my case much. I and my family owe a lot to Jitender as apart from fighting off the taboo, he is also facing the ire of the accused who try to frame him in false cases,”
While most of us grind our teeth in frustration and abuse the law and lawmakers for the maltreatment of women in this country this #TrueDiamond is working quietly behind the scenes, in order to really make a huge difference to those affected by this social curse.
0 comments