By Indrani Basu
"We'll give you a good time, better than the other men you've seen," taunted one as they encircled and grabbed her. "I picked up a brick and threw it at them, calling them names.
Fortunately my screams scared them even as the brick hit one of them, so they ran away. Otherwise, I was in for serious trouble," said the MNC employee, who is married.
An hour or so later, another woman from northeast India, Kiampo (name changed), was grabbed by four men in the same area. They pushed her against a wall, pinning her hands and fondling her.
"They tried opening my trousers. Somehow I managed to free one of my hands and took out a Swiss knife that I have as a keychain.
I stabbed at the thigh of one of my assailants – it barely scratched him – but it was enough to scare him for the moment...I ran for my life and managed to get away," she recalled
These are only two stories which you will not find in Delhi Police files on crime against women of northeast India. "Calling the police would have only resulted in further harassment.
We are cross-questioned and asked inappropriate questions and the police are reluctant to even file a complaint, forget an FIR. We would rather depend on self-defence or call a friend for help. Police help is a sham," said Liang.
Asking a girl from the northeast in Munirka whether she has ever been harassed is like scratching a deep wound.
The answer invariably is yes.
Besides cases of assault is the daily mental and physical harassment faced by both young and older girls in the area.
"Even though I'm new here, I can already feel caged in this area. I came from Manipur just a while back. We are not free here and you cannot escape the racial discrimination," explained Michelle, a student of JNU.
The hostility of the landlords and other people in the neighbourhood is palpable. "I rented a house and my landlord refused to let any of my friends visit me, even during the day. Since I was from the northeast, I was viewed as someone with dirty habits and treated with suspicion.
I was told to keep my friends outside and 'do these activities outside the house'. It was painful. Now I am living in better accommodation but that is only my good luck," explained Rose, a resident of Munirka.
For these men and women, calling the police is the last resort. "I saw a woman being beaten up by some men and made a PCR call three months ago to alert the cops.
Now I am being constantly harassed by the cops who claim that I must keep coming to the police station though I have given my statement and they should be concentrating on their investigation. This is why we don't go to the cops," explained Timothy, a student.
A research scholar in JNU, Gunamani claimed, "I have been in Delhi since 2002 and we seem to be always protesting for inclusion. Once, when we were protesting against the gangrape of a northeast girl in Dhaula Kuan when a cop at Jantar Mantar told me that if I was facing so much trouble in this country, why didn't I go back to China. This is open racism."
Neonu, who is in the city for coaching to join Staff Selection Commission, claimed, "People from northeast are treated as cheap.
When we go out, people stare at us. I am new here but I feel cheapened every day. When we come here from our states, we are warned but it still hits us like a ton of bricks."
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