I am a semi-literate person and work as daily wage earner. I did not know just how good my daughter Babina was in studies until her teachers and friends told me that she was a good student. She always scored over 80 per cent in her annual school examinations. She was admired in her school and in our village Arjunagoda and the surrounding ones as a budding singer. She participated in the ETV Odiya talent hunt and many other singing competitions held in Bhubaneswar and won several prizes.
I cheered every success of hers and strongly believed that one day my daughter would not only be a celebrity but also help me overcome a life of poverty by getting a good job. When I learnt that three criminals with sordid pasts had their eyes on her, I was forced to stop her from going to school. Any protective father in my position would’ve done the same. I feared that they might abduct her on the way her to the school. Despite her personal written appeal to the district superintendent of police, Puri, and the local police officer requesting security, they did not help us.
It all happened on the evening of January 13, 2008, when the accused first attempted to molest my daughter and her friend Prabhati. They immediately informed the local police but the officials did not take any immediate action nor registered a case. The scoundrels had by then long escaped the scene of crime.
A few days later, unable to bear the stigma of being molested and the dejection of injustice looming over her head, Prabhati committed suicide. Babina was devastated over her close friend’s death. As if the nightmare of the molestation wasn’t enough, the grief of losing a friend also egged Babina on to stand as witness in the court of law to ensure that the criminals were punished and justice was meted out. Getting a whiff of her fortitude, the criminals started to pressurise her to withdraw the case, but my daughter was made of sterner stuff.
Although, I was frightened for Babina’s safety, I had to bend before her strong will and determination. I prayed every day for her security and wished the ordeal would end. Prayers had no power as the culprits had their own design. On November 29, 2011, one of the accused — Prasant Nayak tried to rape and murder her by strangulation. As word spread of Babina’s rape, we rushed to find her in a critical condition and immediately took her to a local Pipili hospital. Without conducting any blood test, the doctors instead gave her an anti-venom injection and then transferred her to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.
All along I prayed to God to save my daughter’s life. In Capital Hospital too, the doctors did not cooperate much. They also gave more anti-venom injections without examining her blood samples and further referred her to Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College in Cuttack. Here, too, the doctors promptly sent her to the tuberculosis ward despite our attempts to get them to treat her for her wounds. She was kept in a dingy room. Her condition worsened by the day. After 17 days, the doctors asked me to take her home saying her chances of survival were very bleak. I am not literate but I had faith in medical science. I couldn’t believe that they (the hospitals) could do nothing for my Babina.
Dejected, I took her to my brother-in-law’s (sister’s husband) house at Ghatikia, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. On January 8, I again took her to the Capital Hospital as her condition deteriorated. Once again I was asked to take her back saying she would not survive. I approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and pleaded for help. Meanwhile, lawyer Haladhar Sethi heard of my case and offered his help. He took up the matter with the SHRC, which directed the Capital Hospital to provide best possible care to Babina.
Once again, the Capital Hospital authorities did not show any interest to save her life. And to escape their responsibility, they referred Babina for the second time to SCB Medical College.
Time was running out and my daughter’s condition was rapidly worsening. When media persons came to know of my plight, they rushed to Capital Hospital and highlighted the atrocities my daughter had undergone and the negligence on the part of the hospital authorities. The administration, which never cared to listen to my grievance, immediately woke up. Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, National SC and ST Commission were called by the state government.
But it was too late. My daughter had slipped into coma and had developed a lot of complications. On June 21, I lost her.
My daughter will not come back to me and life will never be the same again. My family now fears to return home as the villagers, under pressure from the powerful politicians, refuse to allow us to enter the village. The villagers have been told that their village had earned a bad name as Babina brought the matter to the notice of the media.