Roshni: Light in the Darkness

Roshni, aged 17, comes from Sunsari district of the terai belt of Nepal. She lived with her parents and a younger brother ( aged 11) in a small hurt consisting of two rooms, a bedroom and kitchen. In April of 2018, she became victim of rape by a 21 year old man from her own village during a big wedding ceremony happening in her village. The incident happened when her parents were away in a neighbouring city Biratnagar for medical purpose. Roshni and her family sought justice from local leaders of the village. However, they forced Roshni's family to compromise and instead of seeking justice, she was pressurized to marry the rapist by paying  dowry of Nrs. 300,000 ( almost 3300 £). Upon immense force, the family sold their land to arrange the dowry money. However, on the planned day for the marriage, the rapist and his father absconded from the village. Then, Roshni's family finally proceeded to file a legal case against the rapist and their journey towards justice started. ChoraChori took responsibility of Roshni thereafter, supporting for her rehabilitation, legal case and reintegration. Meanwhile, ChoraChori executed continuous follow up with the police, court and government prosecutor to expedite the case and arrest the rapist. Finally, after a year of the incident, the police were able to arrest the rapist and he has been put behind the bars.

Despite the traumatic incident, Roshni showed great resilience, strength and motivation to move forward. She reached out to the counselors whenever she felt the need to talk and share her feelings. At the time when ChoraChori hadn't even started the tailoring courses, Roshni expressed her interest to learn tailoring and was determined to sew a blouse for her mother back home. She was enrolled in felt and crafts training at first where she learnt handstitching techniques. Then, she received the 6 months basic tailoring course along with her own sewing machine in ChoraChori. She presented an excellent performance during the tailoring course, and received top rank in the final examination.

Roshni had to return back to her village due to ill health of her mother. However, this didn’t stop her from starting her own tailoring shop. With the help of one of her aunts, she started taking orders for sewing and tailoring in her own village. Amidst this new beginning, Roshni was again halted when her father passed away due to ill health. But her resilience kept her going, and she took the responsibility together with her mother to take care of their family.

Roshni presents with an exemplary example that no matter how many times life throws curveballs onto a person, one can always bounce back. She fought strongly with her challenges and came back stronger. She found light even in the darkest corners of her life, and ChoraChori is proud to have played a role in this.