Sexual Violence against Muslim women during #DelhiPogrom

2. Rukhsar, 26

Rukhsar is one among the uncountable women who were sexually assaulted by the communal mobs. She identifies the culprits who orchestrated the violence in her locality.

3. Fatima, 45

Fatima went back to her home in Shiv Vihar to look for her goats whom she worried would die.
“They pulled my dupatta and tore my shalwar’s sleeve. I was saved by a family that was still living in the area,” Fatima said. “The family said I was with them, the men

abused them but left me alone,” Fatima said, adding that the family hid her for some time till everything was clear.
“If it weren’t for them, I don’t know if I would be here”.

4. Rubina Bano, 37

Rubina, then three months pregnant, was brutally beaten up by not only the communal mob but also by the police. She recalls the communal slurs and slogans of Jai Shree Ram and Ye Le Azadi when a man in police uniform tried to kill her with a stone rendering

her unconscious. She was taken to Al-Hind Hospital and later to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

5. Shabana, 26

“The mob beat me with lathis… Some kicked me in the stomach. They stopped after a while, destroyed the house, and left,” said a pregnant Shabana when a mob attacked after

barging in her house. The next day, Shabana delivered a boy in a complicated delivery.

6. Shabnam,30

Shabnam, while fleeing from her home, was caught by six to seven men who started beating and
molesting her. “They did whatever they could, hit me with what they had, and touched me in
my private parts. They did everything…the only thing they didn’t do was rape me

Speaking to BBC, women at the Indira Vihar shelter recalled how attackers pulled their scarves
and tore their clothes. A mother of a one-year-old wept as she narrated how her clothes were
torn to shreds by several men who entered her house.190 Muskan, a 20-year-old Muslim girl

who
was eight months pregnant, was set upon by a Hindu mob. “They threw me to the ground,
kicked my stomach and my whole body..I pleaded with them not to harm my baby, I said
‘please, please’ over and over, but they kept kicking”, recalls Muskan in a frail voice. In Shiv
Vihar,

a few women reported that the Hindu nationalist mob was chanting “Shiv Vihar
jayengen, burqe wali layengen.” At the Chand Bagh protest site, men from the communal
mobs exposed their genitals to the women protestors and shouted “Ye Lo Aazadi” (Take this:
freedom!)

A woman from Shiv Vihar spoke of a “neighbour’s daughter who was dishonoured and
killed”. When the violent mob walked towards a couple of Muslim households, chanting “Jai
Shri Ram” slogans, a woman in the vicinity heard them categorically saying: bring them out and
they will

assault them on the spot.
Another woman narrated how her clothes were torn to shreds by several men who entered her
house forcefully. When these women, who were in such precarious situation, made calls to the
police, there was no timely response from the police. One of these

women stated that the
Police kept on assuring them every time they called up but they never came to help them.
In the testimonies, women have recounted how the mob was carrying acid and using it to attack women in the immediate vicinity. A woman in a video interview spoke about

the acid attack her family members and she herself were subjected to. She recounted that acid was thrown on
her, her daughter and her brother in law. She said that she still carries the marks on her face and that her clothes turned to paper as a result. Her daughter and her

brother in law were still admitted in the hospital. They too tried to call the police to get their help but to no avail.
Another woman from Khajuri Khas recounted that some of the women together had to jump off a wall of 8-10 feet, and this resulted in several injuries to them.

References- Delhi minority commission report

#DelhiPogrom