Incredible faith in the legal system

I went to observe one of our cases in the Sessions Court (i.e. trial court) in Anand (east of Ahmedabad, but still pretty central Gujarat). Navsarjan was aiding the government in its prosecution of some upper-caste persons who murdered a Dalit man. I sat with his sister-in-law – an incredibly strong woman – to hear her story.

Navratri is a cherished festival of Gujaratis. Not surprising as its celebration consists of nine nights of dancing in gorgeous clothes. So it wasn’t surprising that when Navratri rolled around one year, this woman’s children and nieces and nephews wanted to be able join in their village’s festivities. When they tried to join into the garba (Gujarati folk dance) one night, they were yelled at, with the upper-caste sarpanch’s (village leader’s) son claiming that their presence was making the crowd go away. A fight ensued and since then, there existed much tension between that boy’s upper-caste family and the Dalit family. The former harassed the latter for several years—coming to their house to threaten and abuse them. When the woman I was speaking with wanted to file complaints, her family stopped her over and over again. As the threats became more serious, she just decided something needed to be done to end it, as she thought “it was better to die than continue living like this.” So she submitted several complaints to the police, who subsequently ignored them. In retaliation, the upper-caste family murdered her brother-in-law.

Our lawyers were helping the family with what came down to three cases: the original harassment, the subsequent police neglect and the murder. The day I went to observe the trial, it was this woman’s turn to take the stand. The composure in which she strongly and clearly told her story, especially given what she has been through, thoroughly impressed me. When I was talking to her, she kept repeating how uneducated she is and how she had never even set foot in a courtroom until now—you would never have guessed with the way she delivered her testimony. She told me she was planning on coming back to court every day until her family finally saw justice. Seeing such faith in the rule of law, when the rule of law so badly failed her family, was incredible...