This is not just a rant from an angry feminist but also an appeal from an afraid minority. Luckily, I never really got to experience injustices based on my caste in my life. Despite hailing from an OBC background, my friends have been quite welcoming and the society has accepted me as one of its own. Now that I think about it, in most of the cases, it was probably because I didn’t have a certification to prove my social identity. It never really bothered me and hardly affected me in any way. The one who loved me, love me still. I always despised how people were judged and discriminated on the basis of their castes but things changed for me drastically when a Dalit woman was raped and molested by her upper-caste neighbours. It was horrifying and disturbing to know that someone could cripple another being to death. The reason being caste. I couldn’t stop thinking about scenarios where similar could have happened to me or to someone in my family. I woke up in the middle of the night only to find myself anxious about the dream of being molested by a rickshaw puller near my home while I ran for my life.

With all due respect, dear society, it is not easy to be a woman and that too a minority. I request you to let us live. Even if we belong to a certain class, caste, race, religion; let us live. Even if we wear saree, suits, jeans, bikini; let us live. All we are ASKING FOR is the basic human courtesy of consent and nothing more. Is asking for justice for the violation of our basic rights too much to ask for? We demand a life without fear of going out late and getting raped or molested. We just demand existence in peace.

Society, this is from a girl which is damned to be a part of yours. I am scared and horrified of thinking about things that might happen to me in broad daylight let alone nights. Somehow death seems to be a more feasible option than living a life with this trauma and fear, yet many of us gather that courage to face you and our culprits but hardly make it. Could you stop this torture for once and for all and let us breathe without staring at our chests? We own flesh too and it’s not your property. There are laws for even trespassing dammit. We are tired of all of it, I am tired of living in this fear. I am tired of my parents worrying about me when I am out till late. We are tired of asking for nothing more than some respect and dignity. We are your daughters, mothers, wives, girlfriends and whatnot. Is it too hard to care even for the sake of humanity? It is high time that you acknowledge us as a respectable part of yours.

Sincerely, just another lower caste girl