OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Governor Droupadi Murmu with the rape victim's three-year-old son on Monday. Telegraph picture Ranchi, Sept. 7: Governor Droupadi Murmu today lent a strong yet sensitive helping hand to a physically challenged village woman who had been raped by a rebel in 2011 and given birth to a boy a year after this brutality. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150908/jsp/jharkhand/story_41283.jsp The woman, in her late twenties now, her three-year-old son and her father, brother and aunt came to Raj Bhavan today all the way from rebel-hit village Gudabandha in East Singhbhum, a good 170km from away Ranchi.
Murmu gave an immediate relief of Rs 25,000 to the woman and instructed a 5 decimal plot be given to her as well as proper toilet and bathroom be made for her home. Murmu also promised the woman benefits of all government schemes she was entitled to. To secure the child's future, the governor promised to get him admitted to Loyola School in Murathakra village near his home, where his education would be sponsored by the state. But, what made Murmu's gesture heartfelt was that she took the telephone numbers of the family and their lady mukhiya, promising to take updates. And, like any other hospitable hostess, she fed the visitors a hearty meal at Raj Bhavan before letting them go in the afternoon. Late last month, a vernacular daily had highlighted the plight of the woman who makes her way around by crawling, and yet whose brutal rape by a Maoist and subsequent childbirth had left her in deep trauma and financial distress. On September 1, the governor's office and state government took cognisance of the news report. Expressing her concern at the inhuman incident, Murmu had contacted Raghubar Das to ensure education and healthcare for the child born out of rape under such unusual circumstances. Gudabandha block development officer (BDO) Ashok Kumar, who escorted the woman and her family Raj Bhavan this morning said the governor sounded genuinely concerned. "Murmu repeatedly asked the victim to speak up on the kind of help she needs. When her family members requested the governor to admit the boy to a good school nearby when he comes of age, she readily agreed," he said. A source at Raj Bhavan said that so far the woman had been getting Rs 600 a month as state pension for the disabled. The sum was Rs 400 a month till July when it was increased. Also, her father was a beneficiary of a housing scheme under Indira Awas Yojana. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
