Nasima Khatoon: A Leader is Born

Setting out with a fierce determination to fight injustice and oppression, Bibi Nasima Khatoon, a milquetoast, is a shining example to poor village women that they need to raise their voice against all harassment and that, together, they become a mighty power, which will be acknowledged by the village and state administration

T he three-day-old decomposed bodies of a young pregnant woman and her six-year old son were found hidden amidst heaps of paddy straw in Targachha village, in South Bihar. The police handed the bodies to the family and dismissed the case on grounds of lack of evidence or witnesses. The bodies were cremated immediately without any further investigation. Soon after, a tiny woman was seen shouting in a shrill voice outside the police station. She was leading a 300-strong group of protesters, who had mustered the courage to walk 12 miles in the scorching October sun. They were demanding to meet the Inspector, who did not come out of his room. This was not the first time that this woman had led a group of people or had come to the police station. Media persons had, however, never ever seen the women of this area, in such large numbers, protesting so fiercely. The policemen mocked them and told them to go back, “Yahan koi sunwai nahi hoti, janani sab ke mard kuch nahi lagam lagwalke... (Nobody would bother to listen to you all; it seems none of your husbands seem to have kept you in control).”

This tiny woman was there to seek justice for a helpless mother. She met the mother, who was crying inconsolably, in a Cluster meeting. The mother told her that her daughter had been tortured, poisoned and murdered, and her body had been found two days ago. The husband and the inlaws, however, had got away easily. The distressed mother was a widow and had nothing to offer to anybody. Nobody was, therefore, willing to do anything to help her find the culprits behind her daughter’s mysterious death.