I wrote this poem for a poetry competition where it won the first place. The topic of the poem is Marital Rape and is one of the subjects that is close to my heart. Sadly, in India, Marital Rape is still not considered to be a crime because of the strain it will supposedly cause to the system of 'marriage'. In fact, girls are advised to be married off to their rapists if they are raped before their marriage, as this system is considered so sacred that it even legitimizes the very act of Rape!
This
is the story of her,
She
who walks amongst us,
She
looks seemingly normal,
You
don’t suspect anything’s wrong with her
But
just give her another look,
She is
more than your neighbour’s cook
She is
unusually thin and frail,
Burned
and bruised, her skin cold and pale
Her
eyes are hollow, blank and void
Yet if
you gaze a little closely, they look sad and recoiled.
Her
soft sobs and weeps
Recount
stories of those untold horrors and griefs
That
await her at her own house,
In the
form of her drunk, abusive and sadistic spouse
Every
night she shudders
At the
thought of going back home
Where
night after night
She relives
the worst nightmares of her life
It’s a
terrifying thought she can’t shake
That
this isn’t a dream from which she can wake
No
means to run, no routes to escape
This
is the story of her,
It may
sound clichéd
Born
in poverty, a burden on everyone’s head
What
is her fault?
That
she is a girl?
Or
merely the fact that she was even born?
Disposed
of by her parents
In a
deal they called her “marriage”
Cursed
to spend the rest of her life
Being
abused and disparaged
Sleeping
with the enemy
Night
after night,
The
torture and pain he inflicts on her
Gets
drowned away in her cries
Nobody
to help her;
It’s
her duty after all,
To
bear all the agony without a complaint
Because
her husband is supposed to be her God
As the
nation today fights tooth and nail
Protesting
against the rape of all those unfortunate victims
Here
she stands; this woman too
She
has gone through the worst, and continues going through
Her
anguish never ends,
Damned
in a fate worse than death
Battered
and worn,
She
lights a candle too
She
prays for the victim,
And
for her own misfortune
Her fault
was being born,
Born
in a land
Where
her femininity is not welcome
Where
marriage is considered so sacred,
That
it even legitimizes rape!
To read more about Marital Rape Laws in India, please read:
*Nirbhaya, Damini and Gudiya were the symbolic names given to the recent Rape Victims in India.
