Suri: A 15-year-old tribal girl, who
was forced to parade naked through villages in Birbhum
district for daring to fall in love with a boy from another
community, has been nominated for the National Bravery Award.
Birbhum District Magistrate Soumitra Mohan said that he
had received a letter from the Indian Council for Child
Welfare nominating the girl, who had mustered courage to file
a police complaint against her tormentors, for the award.
"We had recommended her name as she showed exemplary
courage to expose the culprits who had also threatened her if
she went to the police," Mohan said.
"Despite her parents not wanting to lodge a complaint
because they feared a social boycott and knowing what could
lie in store for her, the girl scraped courage to identify
her tormentors at a police identification parade," he said.
The girl, a resident of Battala village was stripped
and forced to walk naked through four villages with her
pictures taken and circulated through MMS.
She had filed a complaint with the Rampurhat police
station in the first week of August. The men were arrested,
but later released on bail.
The district magistrate hoped that the award for the
girl, who is staying in a government run home, would get her
more recognition for the courage she had demonstrated.
A bank account has been opened in her name by the
district magistrate from which she would be able to draw money
once she became an adult.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 11, 2010, 18:44