I Was Harassed At 13 Years Of Age

I am a resident of Delhi,India.I am 21 as of now.I joined and NGO recently in my college against child sex abuse.I don’t know why I did join it,but somehow I did.As I did,I remembered that I was harassed when I was just 13 years by my van driver.I reported it to the President of the NGO ,she offered to go to DSLSA with me to seek guidance.I in the meantime consulted a lawyer friend of mine,told him that I do not remember any dates,month or any other detail about this event as it was way too many years ago,moreover I was taken to some unknown location which I fail to recall now.

You may ask that all of a sudden why do I want that person behind the bars now? Well,I was just 13 at that time and all my family did was call that driver’s friend who we knew was also a driver.That friend is dead now.He was called and was told that my father is going to lodge an FIR ,he responded with the same old-“I will beat him up,and make sure nothing like that happens again.”I,used to think that one day when I’ll start earning,I’ll buy a licensed gun and kill that bastard.But I know now that thinking this was very ‘not so normal’ .

So,I somehow conveniently forgot about this whole episode and somehow had cheerful,happy years of growing up.Until that day,when I was reminded of this and all the rage,the want of revenge ,everything returned.I asked my mother about this,she said that making that driver say sorry now is not possible as it has been so long.But,if that guy comes around ever again,and tries to do anything unpleasant,you go straight and shoot him if you want.Do I wait for him to come again and try to assault me again so that I can take action? What about the harm already caused? Of course I googled a lot and tried to find out all what I can.So,I found out that it was never too late to lodge an FIR,that I could actually go to DSLSA(Delhi State Legal Services Authority)  and seek out further legal processes against him.But,I don’t know what kept me from doing so.I mailed all the NGO’s and even writing this story here today was a part of it.But,now you,all the people out there who call themselves smart and in favor of women’s rights,tell me ,should I have gone further for justice?

You tell me that in this country where we get to hear at least 100 cases of rape and at least 1000 cases of sexual harassment everyday in news,how much difference will it create after 8 years of a sexual harassment case and without any proof?I was suggested that go for justice only if you are rich,influential,and do not care about my reputation being harmed.Seriously? My reputation has nothing to do with it!I want the reputation of that driver to be shattered down!

Would it have been wiser on my part to go and file up a lawsuit against him and spend all my time and energy into it ,while I deserved a life better than this where I work towards my goals and ambitions?This does not means at all that I did not or do not have any desire to get the accused behind the bars,but this gap of 8 years,plus no intentions on my family’s behalf to report the FIR or file a lawsuit whatsoever resulted in me being clouded about what to do and what not to do.What should have been done?