Debditi shares her story of standing upto her Uncle for sexual assault

“My new uncle was over-friendly with me. He used to feel me with his bare hands.”

I am Debditi Chakraborty, a 21-year-old college student from Kolkata, West Bengal. Today, I would write a story about a phase of my life where I was not even aware of the fact that I was an object of pleasure for someone.

I was in the second standard when my aunt, from my mother’s side, got married. The man she got married to was not from a very financially well off family, which is not a crime; but they even lacked in the field of education. Anyway, I found my new uncle to be quite friendly with me and I even took that to my own benefit, demanding stuff from him all the time. Just a normal kid thing!

Gradually I started feeling uncomfortable with him because he used to touch me under the blankets, with the excuse that his hands were cold or sometimes he would hug me from behind and kiss on my neck. I often used to stay at their places for a sleepover because my aunt and I had a very friendly relation. So, at night when I almost fell asleep, I used to feel his hands on me. He used to continuously feel me with his hands and what not (he used to come in the bedroom after dinner and as Indian customs, women eat after their husbands ). So my aunt would never know his deeds.

The uncomfortable feeling turned to fear. I used to be scared whenever he was around. He was a dirty man who enjoyed making me sit on his lap while we travelled in a rickshaw. I used to leave the room if he ever came and if there was no one around but still it didn’t help much.

This went on for several years because I was too young and I was extremely scared (thanks to the society and my family’s mentality at that point of time) because I knew or somehow I was made to believe that it is always the girl’s fault. Hence, he continued this even after having his own kid.

Then my uncle (my mom’s brother) got married. Instead of a honeymoon they actually went for a family trip where my grandparents and my aunt & uncle tagged along. After they came back, there was a huge fight. I overheard that my new-uncle rubbed his foot against my new aunt’s foot. That gave me a glimpse of hope that well, it is not always the girl’s fault. It gave me courage and I wrote this letter to my parents about everything that had been happening to me.

The very next moment I found out that there was again a huge fight. There was no police complaint but all the relations with them were completely cut off and I was treated with great care which helped me overcome the fear. I am now alright but the slight scar remained and will always remain.

My message to Girls, SPEAK UP! Fight for what’s right. SOCIETY, please try to make your own box of thoughts, be realistic, stop following ideas blindly. We are all humans and it’s high time to be rational.

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