British woman tells of humiliation by Indian court
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Independent Minds
A British woman who came to India to work for a charity developing women’s rights has told how she was humiliated in court and broke down after accusing a plumber of trying to rape her.
Kaya Eldridge, a graduate of the London School of Economics, has made a formal complaint to the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court after a defence lawyer asked her a series of “irrelevant questions designed to question my character”. In front of a packed court of jeering men, the 23-year-old was asked whether she drank alcohol, socialised with men and even how often she took a shower. All the while, the man she had accused of assaulting her sat just feet away.
“It has been an horrendous couple of weeks,” said Ms Eldridge, speaking from the city of Ahmedabad. “It’s an incredibly sad state of affairs but I think it’s important that I stand up, not just because of what happened to me, but because not every woman is in a position to speak out.”
Ms Eldridge, from south London, came to India at the end of July for a three-month internship with Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan, an NGO in the western state where she is working on a project designed to help empower women. She says she was assaulted by a plumber employed by the organisation who had been called to repair her shower when she was alone in her apartment.
After making a complaint to the police, a case was heard earlier this week where charges of molestation were put against the plumber. Ms Eldridge said the government appointed her a lawyer but no translator. She said she considered the questioning she underwent by defence lawyer Sanjay Prajapati to have been a “second assault”.
“People have some sort of idea that sexual assaults only happen to certain sort of women; it can happen to anyone, regardless of who you are or how many sexual partners you’ve had,” she continued. “To question my character in court was not only entirely irrelevant but totally humiliating.”
The British woman said that no-one in the court tried to interrupt the questions put to her, not even her own lawyer, who she has since fired. The only other British person in the court was her flatmate. Ms Eldridge said she found the experience “utterly isolating”.
The international relations graduate said that since news had spread of the alleged assault and of her subsequent treatment in court, she had received up to 500 messages on Facebook. “Most of them are from Indians in India and all of them attach messages of support,” said Ms Eldridge, who says she suffered bruises and scratches after the assault. “Others are from Indians outside of the country and they recognise that this is commonplace.”
No-one from the Gujarat High Court was available for comment but the state’s bar association defended the type of questioning that Ms Eldridge was forced to endure. Anil Kella, chairman of the Gujarat Bar Council, told the Hindustan Times: “We do not have details of the questions asked but under the Evidence Act a lawyer is within his limitations. For the defence of his client it sometimes becomes necessary.”
Ms Eldridge said the assault she alleges to have suffered could have taken place anywhere and she intends to remain in India to complete her internship. Her mother is due to fly to India to be with her. However, in recent years there have been several high profile sexual assaults on British women here. Last year 17-year-old Scarlett Keeling was raped and murdered in Goa. The previous year a British freelance journalist was raped in the Rajasthan city of Udaipur by the owner of the guesthouse in which she was staying. Though convicted by a court and sentenced to life imprisonment, the man remains at large.
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Comments
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr
"... But the Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini, said she "deplored" his attempt to challenge his conviction though "selective publication of his view of the evidence in the media" after he had abandoned his appeal.
"'The only appropriate forum for the determination of guilt or innocence is the criminal court,' said Ms Angiolini, who is responsible for prosecutions in Scotland. ..."
These macho types bully women and think it makes them look like strong men.
Stupid woman for continuing to stay in the country men and women there think white women are prostitutes an look down on us.
I should know I live in London and get abuse when walking past groups of these young men. The women treat you with the contempt and have a huge chip on their shoulder, and they are so much better than you.
They are brought up in households and taught to look down on us.
the woman is a second class citizen everywhere. in some countries more than others. for example, the rape conviction rate in britain is very low as well..
assault every woman in sight - regarless of her nationality. From this macho mentality, one can imagine what Indian women must endure in every city, town and remote villages.
court, where this lady was subjected to questioning as though she were the offending party -
and all this before a crowd of malicious, jeering males. One can imagine that the defendant must have felt triumphant, and even encouraged.
In any other world court, the judge would not have permitted this sort of behaviour by the public
and sent them out of the courtroom.
Racism exists in all ethnicities, to deny it is racist on your part.
But after getting abuse by men leaning out of cars, or when I get on a train then after a time I can only assume this is a common mentality.
My point is no one is better than anyone else, my point was to chide macho men and try to make them think before abusing women. Which was more constuctive than your personal comment.
Everybody makes typos and one does not always notice them. That is not any excuse at all for denigrating people's comments.
FILTHY VIRUS SPREADING SCUM
YOUR SITE HAS A TROJAN. ANYONE READING THIS .....DO NOT GO THERE
SPAMMY SCUM
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/200601
"Delhi is said to have one of the highest rates of crime against women in India and there have been calls for the death penalty to be handed out to rapists."
I mean, the euphemism "eve teasing" originated there.
but the next day no one apart from one angel believed me. i tried to get away without telling my story due to the humiliation i may have received from the ashram leader, but had to get my money back and was forced to tell the story. they wanted to summon all the men into the room with me there. westerners also said it must have happened for a reason and that i present myself sexually.
if i have sexual energy, should it be repressed? i had gone there to seek refuge as i had been robbed in my hotel room with a man with a knife. the police put that man in front of me after previously saying i was a liar and throwing me out of the hotel.
all this was not character building - a test of strength yes, but bad circumstance! and all over easter!
anyway, your story has struck a chord with me. well done for sticking to trying to get justice, but i fear the cultural code will say you asked for it, as it did in my case. peace and understanding.
I would ask western women travelling alone to be extra careful, not to go out alone at night,
not to stay in a hotel or an ashram without a lot of prior research, not to have a drink with strangers and not to dress revealingly (by Indian standards) even in the big cities.