15-Yr-Old Assaulted for Sister’s FB Post Challenging Period Taboo

The post takes on the highly prevalent practice of women being barred from entering temples during menstruation.

Lakshmi is terrified of stepping out of the house, but says she does not have an option.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Monday started out as a normal day for Lakshmi, a class 10 student in Mallappally in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district. But when she was returning from school, things took an ugly turn.

As she was going back home, two bike-borne men allegedly stopped and threatened the 15-year-old. “They both wore jackets and helmets, so that no one could identify them. One of them tried to hit me too, but I was able to dodge him. They threatened me saying, ask your sister to behave well,” Lakshmi told TNM. “They said, we’ll be finished if we didn’t keep quiet.”

The men were referring to a Facebook post her elder sister, Navami Ramachandran, had put up three days ago criticising taboos around menstruation in temples. Navami, who is a committee member of the Student Federation of India (SFI) in Pathanamthitta district and the Mallappally area secretary, had shared a picture on 16 February which read, “A room should be built outside the temple for the goddess to sit on menstruation days.”

It was a take on the highly prevalent practice of women being barred from entering temples when they are menstruating.

Online Abuse

When the 19-year-old college student put up the post, she could not have anticipated the volume of online abuse she would receive. Or that those taking offence to the post would physically assault her 15-year-old sister as well.

The Facebook post by Navami Ramachandran was a take on the highly prevalent practice of women being barred from entering temples when they are menstruating.(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

One person commenting on her post asked if she was a Pakistani for expressing such views. Another attacked her upbringing saying that she was showing the “true character” of her father. One comment questioned, “Who are you to change Hindu traditions and customs? Why do you find flaws in Hindu religion only?” A majority of the comments were in Malayalam.

“Most of the comments for the post were from fake IDs while only one or two IDs were original,” Navami observed.

Her colleague in SFI, Syama, was also bullied online for sharing the post, Navami said. Syama is an SFI district committee member in Kasargod.

The two lodged a police complaint with the Thiruvalla DySP and the Circle Inspector at Mallappally. “Since the police are investigating the case, we have no further moves to make,” Navami said.

Second Assault on Lakshmi

The online abuse was not all. After unknown men threatened Lakshmi on Monday, she was physically assaulted on Wednesday too.

Lakshmi had stepped out of the house around 7.50 am to buy milk when the incident occurred.

It happened in the middle of a rubber plantation. There was no one nearby, and the two men on the bike had stopped there as if they were waiting for me. One of them hit me and I fell.

Lakshmi, Navami’s younger sister

She then lay on the ground, afraid to get up. “I was afraid that if I got up, they would attack me using some weapons,” Lakshmi said.

The teenager is terrified of stepping out of the house, but said she does not have an option. “I have to write my exams. It’s a good thing that my family is supporting me, along withCPI (M) members,” Lakshmi said.

While Lakshmi and Navami’s mother, Seetha, is the Mallappally branch committee secretary of the CPI(M), their father Ramachandran is a former member of the party.

Navami believes that the people who attacked her sister might be affiliated to the Sangh Parivar. However, after Lakshmi was threatened, she said in another Facebook post that their tactics would not work.

“If I connect the incidents together, there is no doubt that the RSS is behind this. If anyone believes that we can be confined within homes with all these threats, they are wrong. You continue your attack. But don’t think that we are afraid of all this. We will continue like this,” Navami’s post from last Tuesday reads.

Her family has lodged a complaint against Lakshmi’s attackers at the Mallappally police station.

(The article was originally published on The News Minute)

(The Quint, in association with BitGiving, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for an 8-month-old who was raped in Delhi on 28 January 2018. The baby girl, who we will refer to as 'Chhutki', was allegedly raped by her 28-year-old cousin when her parents were away. She has been discharged from AIIMS hospital after undergoing three surgeries, but needs more medical treatment in order to heal completely. Her parents hail from a low-income group and have stopped going to work so that they can take care of the baby. You can help cover Chhutki's medical expenses and secure her future. Every little bit counts. Click here to donate.)