Sudhanshu was a young graduate who dreamt of becoming a
lawyer. So he took admission in a renowned university to pursue a law degree.
When a young man comes from another city to study, residence is a big problem.
Sudhanshu and four of his friends searched a rented flat and thought of sharing
it together. Rent agreement was made in the name of Sudhanshu and Sujit, both
Law students. So five students shared that flat and life was fun for all the five
friends.
The university was a happening place as student union
elections were to be held after a few days. So the student leaders were busy
luring students. One of the student leaderand senior, Deepak was a good friend
of Sudhanshu. One day Deepak asked Sudhanshu whether he and his friend can stay
at his place for few days. Sudhanshu agreed to it and said as he and his
friends are going to stay with another friend for studies so Deepak can stay at
his flat.
Sudhanshu went to his friend’s place that night. Deepak
spent two nights at Sudhanshu’s place.Owing to political rivalry between the two
students’ wings,the other student leader planned to trap Deepak in a rape
case.They talked to a girl named Manjari who was a sex worker and used to trap
men in rape cases and extort money from them. Manjari filed an FIR of rape
against Deepak that he and his friend raped her at Sudhanshu’s flat. Police
came to the flat and interrogated Deepak.
As Deepak was an upcoming politician, he had good
relations with the police. He asked police inspector to spare him in the false
case but the inspector said that he has a lot of pressure from the higher
officials so he has to arrest somebody. This gave Deepak an idea, he called
Sudhanshu and told him that police is at his place for verification. Sudhanshu
did not have any idea so he came immediately along with his friends. Police
inspector asked them to come to the police station for verification. The five
young men went to the police station without any knowledge of what life will
show them next.
All the five students were arrested for the alleged gang
rape that never happened. Sudhanshu and others were panicked; Inspector assured
them that they will be out in two or three days. That was the time of great
rape in India “Nirbhaya”, when they were presented before the magistrate.
Interestingly Manjari recognized her rapists and as there
was candle light drama going on in Delhi and every city of India, the bail of
these five students was rejected. All the five students were sent to Tihar.
Life came to a standstill for them and their families. Their families were
trying hard to prove that the alleged rape actually never happened but the
“RAPE” hysteria that grabbed the nation led to nobody believing them.
Sudhanshu was a fighter so he thought of starting life
afresh in Tihar and as such he joined legal aid services. All hopes of getting
out of Tihar died as the new rape bill passed and became law overnight. Their
families lost hope in process of law so they started negotiations with Manjari
and police.
Manjari demanded 50 lakhs from the five students, 10 lakh
each. But the students belonged to middle class families so the families
requested her to demand less. Manjari finally came down to 20 lakhs, so after
eight and half months of jail,the five students were released.
Sudhanshu had an argument with his family over paying
money for his release but his family convinced him that the atmosphere is very
bad for rape allegations. Those
students came to know that they were a victim of media conviction and part of
every media story to the extent that people hated them. They started their
usual lives with all the curses and bad names. But Sudhanshu thought of
fighting this menace and became a volunteer in Men’s right movement.
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