About 12-year-old Savita* was raped by two men for two years between 1994 and 1996. Her son, born out of rape – her only evidence of the crime – was subsequently taken away from her. 

But a decade later, the mother and son reunited. And in an exceptional turn of events, after 30 years of the crime, the police arrested the two perpetrators, Mohammad Razi and Hassan Naqi. On May 20, the Shahjahanpur Sessions Court convicted the two men of rape and sentenced them to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. 

In this conversation, Savita speaks to Nidhi Suresh about her long battle with stigma and secrecy, her exceptional journey to justice, her hopes, and how the incident altered her life and aspirations. 

“Except for the heart-wrenching emotion or feeling, I have not much to say about the incident… The 10-year sentence is less but even that’s enough for me. Although I have lost 30 years of my life. I had big dreams,” says Savita. 

“I want to clearly state that I have no concept of Hindu-Muslim. I would never say that Hindus are bad to Muslims or Muslims are bad to Hindus. Both my children are the driving force behind me who do not let me get bogged down.” 

Watch.

*Name has been changed to protect her identity.

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