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.
Today, her case continues in the court.
