Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja was on Wednesday convicted for raping his maidin June 2009 by a Mumbai sessions court. The Shivdi fast-track court sentenced him to seven years in prison for the rape.
As the judge read out the sentence, a visibly shaken Ahuja broke down in the court.
Ahuja had been arrested in June 2009 after his teenaged maid complained to police that he had raped her.
But in a dramatic turnaround in September 2010, Ahuja's maid had told the fast-track court that the actor never raped her. She admitted slapping false charges on the actor on the instructions of a woman, who helped her in getting the job with Ahujas.
The court, however, decided that she had turned a hostile witness and may now try her for perjury.
I can't remember a time when I didn't know about rape. And I can't remember how I learned. I just know it was there, always there. Being raped altered and shaped my mother's identity, and I always knew that.
When I was nine or 10, maybe 11, and I wanted to know the details about my mother's rape, all I had to do was look it up. My mother had been telling her story for 20 years.
I learned the details about my mother's rape by reading the first chapter of "Real Rape," a book she wrote about rape law in America, a book that began with a chapter called "My Story." And as I read about the trauma, the aftermath, the way the Boston police treated her and how the doctors at the hospital responded, I also realized something unsettling: it wasn't just I who knew these details; people all over the place could -- and did, in fact -- also know the painful details of my mother's rape.
My mom was 21, just a few months older than I am today. She was a senior at Wellesley. It was two days before her college graduation. He was a stranger with an ice pick. She was parking her car in the alley behind her apartment in Boston. I used to think it happened at night, but that must be a detail supplied by my imagination. I know this because a quick online search tells me that my mother was raped in the afternoon, not the evening. A Thursday afternoon. My mom was raped on a Thursday afternoon in May by a man wielding an ice pick. The police never found him.
I still feel a little odd about the fact that I can use the Internet to fact-check details about my mom's rape.
For a while, I wasn't sure if this was a story that I was allowed to tell. I remember the responses I received when I first told people that my mother had been raped. These were people who didn't know this about my mom. They expressed surprise, then admonishment: "Are you sure you should be telling people about that? That's private." I went home feeling confused and even a little ashamed, embarrassed. I knew the story wasn't private. But maybe I wasn't supposed to tell this story. This was my mom's story, not mine. She could tell it, not I. That day, I asked her if it was okay that I had told people. "It's not private," she told me. "It's okay." Not that I should necessarily just go around sharing, but if it seemed relevant, sure. Not that I actually would have shared this story with everybody; I knew that plenty of my classmates didn't even know what rape was yet. But hearing my mother tell me this didn't quite answer my question. Because I still thought that this was my mother's story. It wasn't until recently that I understood that even though I wasn't there in the alley that Thursday afternoon, this was my story, too. My mother's rape shaped my childhood. I grew up watching and listening to my mother discuss rape -- on television, in speeches, in her law school classes, with friends, with family, with me. Everywhere. I grew up with her words about rape echoing in a constant loop inside my head. And in this way, my mom's story became a part of my story. A part of me. A part of the person I have become and am still in the process of becoming.
My mother's mother -- my grandmother -- told my mother that she shouldn't tell anyone that she had been raped, that if she did, nobody would want her. She had been soiled. My mom decided to tell her story because she refused to hide, and she understood the importance of refusing to hide. To hide would be to suggest that this was something to be embarrassed about, something that was somehow her fault. Hiding would mean giving in to the injustice. Hiding would preclude her from being able to really fight back.
Last week, I directed a production of "A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and a Prayer," a collection of monologues compiled by Eve Ensler about rape and violence against women. "A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and a Prayer" would not and could not have been produced at Harvard 30 years ago. Close to 30 years ago, my mother was a young professor at Harvard Law School. She was teaching Criminal Law and had planned to devote one day to discussing rape law. On that day, she told her class about her rape experience. If the subject was armed robbery and had she been robbed by a man with an ice pick, she wouldn't have thought twice about mentioning it. But this was rape, and rape, my mother was told, should not be discussed in public.
In spite of her fears about possible repercussions, she told her story. The campus exploded with discussion. The Harvard Crimson wrote about it. She received much more criticism than support. One day she received a phone call from someone who said, "I'm one of your students, and before the end of the semester, I'm going to rape you, too." This led to an eventually inconclusive investigation. The police tapped her phone line and asked her to call on students who she thought might particularly hate her in class, to see if any of their voices sounded familiar.
Last week, 36 years after my mother's rape and nearly 30 years after my mother was threatened after she spoke out at Harvard, I stood on stage in a Harvard theater, sharing this story and opening a production about true stories of rape and violence.
Thirty years ago, the Harvard organization that sponsored this production, the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR), was still decades away from being born.
My mother told her story even though she was afraid. She still is. But thanks to her bravery and her fight, I am not afraid. I am conscious of the dangers. I am cautious when I walk around alone at night and would never accept a drink from a stranger. I have taken multiple full-impact self-defense courses. I have known about rape for as long as I can remember.
But I am not afraid.
KUALA LUMPUR: Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has refuted allegations that he raped his Indonesian maid in 2007.
"I refute the allegations, whether they are about raping any individual four years ago (2007) or any other allegation, raised by bloggers on the Internet or by any political entity," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
He described the allegations against him in blog reports and by the Opposition as "heaps of libellous statements and awful, ugly and wicked lies".
"I state readily that any report by anyone so far related to this matter should be investigated under the country's laws," he said.
Dr Rais said he and his family members were prepared to extend full cooperation in such an investigation, and would accept and comply with any outcome of the official probe.
The allegations against a senior Malaysian Cabinet minister were contained in cables made public by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) head Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or better known as Chegu Bard said it was strange that the minister had remained quiet although it had been days since the issue was first raised.
"As far as we are concerned, he is only guilty until proven guilty. He is still an innocent party but he must come forward and say something...Malaysians would assume that he is guilty if he continues to keep quiet," he said.
Badrul Hisham said this before lodging a report on the matter at the Seremban 2 police station here.
"He must say something because almost every blogger isl talking about it. Although he is still innocent, the manner his name is being mentioned shows that he is guilty of the crime as he has chose to remain silent," he said.
Following the revelation by Wikileaks, Migrant Care, a non-governmental organisation which looked into the wellbeing of Indonesian workers lodged a police report claiming that the victim was allegedly raped in Feb 2007. She was then deported to Indonesia.
Badul Hisham said since the minister had made a police report against a blogger immediately after the latter claimed that there were irregularities in the awarding of contracts in his ministry, it was only proper for the minister to respond to the latest allegation promptly.
"We are worried that being a senior minister, he can be blackmailed if he does not openly deny the charge. This will eventually become a problem to national security," he said.
He said the police should also immediately start a probe into the allegation.
"If the police remains quiet, then the people would say that ministers are a privileged lot and given special protection," he said adding that the minister should be suspended from his official duties pending the outcome of the investigations.
Badrul Hisham said if the authorities failed to address then allegation, this could cause unnecessary tension in ties between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
"We are giving the police 14 days to begin its probe into the allegation failing which we would be forced to adopt more drastic measures to compel the authorities to do so," he said.
Meanwhile, PKR Youth said it believed the allegations concerning the rape of an Indonesian domestic helper by a Malaysian minister are true, said Youth head Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.
"PKR Youth views such revelations seriously. The incident happened on Feb 19, 2007 but the (survivor) has been forced to keep mum as threats were made against her," he claimed in a statement in a news portal.
He said no action had been taken against the minister for fear of regional conflict.
"The issue is being hotly debated in the cyber-world. As to the validity of the allegation, only (the minister) and God know (the truth)," he said, adding that the issue would affect ties between Malaysia and Indonesia if no action was taken.
He urged for an in-depth investigation to be conducted.
"The minister concerned should also come forward and set the record straight if there is no truth to the allegation," he said.
He said PKR Youth would conduct a fact-finding mission to Indonesian non-govermental organisation Migrant Care who wrote the report after interviewing the victim, as well as to other Indonesian agencies.
The website also quoted Shamsul as saying that PKR Youth member, Badrul Hisham Shaharin - better known as Chegubard - planned to lodge a police report on the issue.
On Monday, Malaysiakini published a story entitled "Alleged rape victim fears minister's reach" in which it quoted a purported letter by the victim's younger sister who wanted justice to be done.
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Here is some of the leaked messages thru Wikileaks....
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We Are Extremely Concern About The Alarming Increases In Number Of Such Rape And Physical Abuses Incidents Happened In Malaysia Two Years Ago We Failed To Advocate For An Indonesian Maid Who Was Raped By A Minister From Kedah We Wish To Express Our Gratitude Towards The Concern Of Ok Kita Tinggalkan Isu Rais Yatim Pasal Kes Rogol Amah Indon Tu Cuma Kita Nak Tunggu Samada RTM12 Dan 3 Serta Akhbar2 Pencacai Sekalian Nak Mainkan 3 Beberapa Jam Yang Lalu
Pak Lah Covered Up Ministers Rape Case According To Popular Blog Rockys Bru An International Nongovernmental Organisation Had Also Reported That The Alleged Rape Happened In Kuala Lumpur 11 Beberapa Jam Yang Lalu
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