Dreadful story of an AAM AADMI
She screamed so loud her vocal chords swelled. Her rapist didn’t pay any heed to her clamorous begging for release. He held her wrists so tight, they turned blue. He laughed as she begged for mercy.
Farzana was raped, physically tortured and then thrown in the fields. She didn’t know why this had happened to her. At first she thought that she may have done something to instigate this behaviour. Her mother had always told her that girls who don’t cover themselves properly instigate rape. “An uncovered head is the invitation for rape”, her mother had told her. But not only her head but her whole body was completely covered when she was kidnapped by this middle aged man. “Why is this happening? Why me?”, she couldn't stop thinking as lied in the fields-physically and morally bruised.
She thought she would die. This thought was infact a relief as she was too ashamed to go tell her family that she had been raped. But some passerby villagers saw her and soon she was taken to nearby rural health clinic. Her injuries were not deadly and even though the medical facilities in the clinic were limited, her life was saved.
While she was in the hospital, her family also came to see her. Farzana was surprised to see that no one was blaming her for the rape and her family was actually sympathetic. This was not normal. When her first cousin Haleema was raped by some men, her family had accused her of being shameful, wearing obscene clothes and probably inviting sex. She had to fled the village and go to the nearby biggest city Hyderabad, after which no one ever heard about her.
“Why are you not asking me if i instigated them?” Farzana asked her mother, as tears fell from her eyes. Her mother didn’t answer, just told her that it would all be fine soon.
In reality, nothing was going to be fine anytime soon.
Chaudhry Shaukat literally owned half of Farzana’s village. He was a rich and powerful man. When floods came, he paid the government officials to divert the floods away from his fields onto the other side. As a result, almost the entire residential area of village was flooded, resulting in dozens of deaths. The word got out and an inquiry commission was formed by Supreme court which was investigating if the blame on Shaukat and government officers was true. Farzana’s father, Hidayat Ullah, despite being advised otherwise by kith and kin, had dared to speak against Shaukat during these investigations. He had been warned of severe consequences, but he had decided to stay firm and continue his struggle for justice. What he didn’t know was that her 14 year old daughter would pay the price for his bravery. He was now hopeless and feared for his other children. What could he do? After months of investigations about manslaughter due to flooding of residential areas on purpose, the only result that had come up was the rape of his innocent daughter. He could still go to police. But the nearest police station was about 60km away and covered 40 villages. They probably would not care to send a police officer for investigation. And even if they do, no one in village would dare speak against Chaudhry Shaukat, especially after seeing the plight of Hidayat Ullah. He lost all hope and decided that he was too weak to fight the powerful Chaudhry. There is no justice for the weak. Might is right.
He went to Chaudhry Shaukat and threw himself on his feet. He apologized for his mistake and promised in the name of God that not only him but his whole family would heed to every command by Chaudhry Sahab. He was granted an apology. Infact Chaudhry sahab was so kind that he sent Farzana to his sister in city to work as a domestic maid-saving her from all the ridicule she would face in the village. Farzana’s rapist and the killer of dozens of other people, Chaudhry Shaukat remained unpunished and the victim was forced to kneel down infront of him and beg for mercy.
The story of Hudayat Ullah is the story of an AAM AADMI. An aam admi in Pakistan who has no one to stand up for this rights. An aam admi who is weak, an aam admi who doesn’t get justice.
When will we realize the plight of a common man? Will we allow this system where might is right to go on forever?