Two Years Later, Chhoti Nirbhaya Is Fearless But Still Haunted
Chhoti Nirbhaya has long since ceased to be just a story. For me, over the course of two years – that seem like much, much longer – she has become a friend. One that chirrups and chirps, that insists on being taken to a movie and that always asks – when I go to visit – when I’ll be back.
None of that changes the horrific fact that a little over two years ago, my six-year-old friend (then 4) was raped and brutalised by a man she called Rahul bhaiyya. Her ‘Rahul bhaiyya’ lured her with a plate of chowmein, led her to a pit along the railway tracks where she lives with her family and raped her. He also slashed her face with a blade and later, left her for dead.
Chhoti Nirbhaya found her way back to her mother, crawling on all fours, and related everything that had happened.