Odanadi Update - 8/11/03 -Ramesh Dodamani =================== Stanly-Parashu and Odanadi have been featured in the latest print publication of "The Week" under "Emerging Leaders of India". Their photo is on the cover with other people and there is also an article and a photo inside. This issue is a must-read for all Asha and AID volunteers. I will try to send some copies. Let me know if anybody is going back to the U.S. soon. More on this at the end. Yesterday the 10th, the folks at Odanadi celebrated "Odanadi Day". It has been 10 years since the formal start of the orgn. A close group of about 70 people consisting of current and former supporters and workers were present. Noted kannada writer S L Byrappa, a Gandhian who was the personal assistant to JP(dont remember his name), director of Rangayana(the group which trained the children during the summer camp), former teachers and activists, current supporters, and some formerly rescued women were present. A discussion was held about moving ahead and to gather ideas and strategies for the future. Activists and teachers who worked with Odanadi in the beginning recounted their experiences and expressed happiness at how far the organization has come. Lunch was organized by a supporter. A cultural program was planned by the children, but due to the prolonged meeting and the lunch, it was decided that the programs would be presented on aug 15th. After the meeting while we were having lunch Stanly-Parashu had to rush to rescue a 13-year old girl who was being shipped off to Bangalore. On 7th Aug, Bhawna Ojha and Yashwant from NYC/NJ visited Odanadi. They were there all afternoon, and had discussions with Stanly-Parashu, myself and the other people and activists. I have posted photographs on the web site. I hope she will post a report soon. On the same day, a team from E-TV, a kannada TV channel were present filming for an episode for "Crime Dairy" about a rescue operation by the Odanadi team. Stanly-Parashu had to attend to both Bhawna and that team. I hope it wasn't too inconvenient for Bhawna. More details are available on the Mysore-Kuvempunagar rescue operation. I wont go into all the gory details but here is some. When the girls were brought in first, photos would taken of them being naked. The girls would then be threatened that the photos would be distributed in their towns and villages. That's one of the ways they kept them there. The place was wired hi-tech with cameras and audio systems/intercoms in all the rooms.The building is such that nothing from inside is visible from the outside. Also next to the building was the house of a local minister. Next to his was a senior police officer's house. Next to his was the house of a famous lawyer. The worst however was the efforts of the police to nullify the efforts of the Odanadi team. They confiscated all the material inside, without probably documenting the evidence. They took with them all the equipment, porn films as well as the possible video recordings of the girls etc. Never know where they'll end up. One of the rescued girls is a vivacious young girl who was taking computer courses, before she was kidnapped, and is very much interested in continuing her studies. Some more stories: A 13 year old girl was pushed to prostitution by her grandmother due to poverty. The girl became pregnant. She was taken to a local traditional doctor who gave her some herbal medicine to get aborted. The foetus was partially aborted and the pieces inside her were rotting, and her belly swelled up. After she was rescued, she was taken to a doctor and cleaned up inside. She is now recovering both physically and mentally. Another case is that of Jayanthi, a young girl who was allegedly murdered after exploting her sexually. She was working as a maid-servant in a lawyer's house. The news came that she died. When enquired, they told Stanly-Parashu that the girl hung herself with a Jute thread(the ones used in tying Jute bags) and that the body was handed over to her parents in a certain village. When the village and similar sounding villages were searched, no such parents or news about the girl was found. The Odanadi team suspects that the girl's body was burnt to hide the fact about the rape. So like before a strike was conducted near the DC's office. This is third such case. In an earlier case the Odanadi and other local organizations had mounted a prolonged strike("Lakshmi case") and the activists of Odanadi were severely beaten up. Many cases are pending against the police officers involved then. This time looks like, they did not want the scene repeated. So according to Stanly-Parashu, the police commissioner, the Assistant police commissioner and the Deputy police commissioner all went on leave that day, thus neglecting their duties. The deputy PC was travelling in a car and on seeing Parashu waves and shouts "Hey I am on leave!". So to whom can Odanadi turn to for justice for Jayanthi? Such is the state of affairs. Another young girl meets a guy in the morning, goes to a movie in the afternoon with him, and gets married the next morning! After staying with her for some time, he starts threatening her with death due to some reason. The girl runs away and comes to Odanadi for help. Initially she wanted a case to be filed against the guy, but now wants to go and stay with him. The guy doesn't want her, and challenges Odanadi to file a case against him. Not exactly a rescue operation, but Odanadi doesn't turn back any such requests. A 14-year old convent girl in Bangalore is neglected by her parents. She becomes close to her car driver who rapes her and makes her pregnant. The parents are "high-class" and do not want the news spread. They wanted to dump the baby. Someone talked to Odanadi about taking the baby, and the little one is now at Odanadi. The girl is now back at school. An 8-year old boy is missing, and the parents come to Odanadi to ask their help... The govt. of India sends girls to Odanadi to be counselled and rehabilitated. They provide for counselling and residential rehabilitation, but not for transport of the girls to their home towns. But they want regular reports on each girl frequently. Manjula has to bear the brunt of sending in these reports. Article about the summer camp at Odanadi in The Hindu: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/yw/2003/06/21/stories/2003062101860300.htm About the The Week article and Photo: Sharmistha, the photo in The Week is what I think Vinayak was look for. But then again it wasn't easy for the Week photographer to take it. They had to visit Odanadi six times to get hold of Stanly and Parashu for the photo.