Janova

I had several cousins who I grew up with. One day my paternal cousin, William
invited me for an outing to a hotel. I happily complied. I was drugged and raped
that day. I was all of twenty-two years.

My family confronted William about the incident and he promised to marry me. It
was after three months that I developed morning sickness and realized that I was
pregnant with William’s baby. William, on getting to know my situation, denied
marrying me. He claimed that I had multiple sexual partners and there was no way
to conclude that he was the baby’s father. Everyone around me wanted me to abort
the baby. For me, it was a sin to even think of it.

I was shattered. I did not know where to go or what to do. All I wanted was to
marry William in order to secure my child’s identity. I decided to approach
Vimochana for help. Tabassum madam at Vimochana traced down William and
began negotiations with him. He came to the office, promised to come back the
next day and disappeared. It took a long time to find his whereabouts. We went
with him to the State Commission for Women and he wanted to get a DNA test
done to determine the paternity of the child. I denied his request.

Tabassum madam convinced him to tie a mangalsutra around my neck at the

Shivaji Nagar church. He did so and has been absconding since. I was nine months
pregnant at the time and that was the last time I saw him.

The situation of my house was becoming increasingly hostile. My sister-in-law

would coerce me into performing all the household duties. I would cook and clean
even when I was nine months pregnant. My sister-in-law would also
psychologically traumatize me and verbally abuse me.

I gave birth all alone and did not have any food to eat. Tabassum madam came to
visit me with some food. She decided to take things in her own hands and
summoned by brothers to her office. She negotiated with them and ensured that
they would provide me and my baby with food and shelter.

I had studied till 12th standard. Tabassum madam motivated me to study further. I
had worked as a domestic worker before I conceived. I decided to write my own
destiny and enrolled myself in a Bachelor of Arts course. I used all my savings to
pay for the correspondence course. After graduating, I started working as a teacher
and would earn a monthly salary of four thousand rupees. This was not enough to
sustain my child. I decided to enroll myself in an English speaking course. Along
with this, I also pursued a course to learn basic computer skills.

After completion of both my courses, I joined a call center. I started working for a
salary of ten thousand rupees and now, I earn forty thousand a month. By the time,
my son started school, I was completely stable and could provide for both of us. I
have now enrolled my son in Delhi Public School.