'13 Men,' No Clear Answers: Digging Into An Indian Gang Rape Case

Transcript

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

A little over a year ago in rural India, a 20-year-old woman had just come back to her village to take care of her sick mother. She had been working in India's capital earning her own money. This made her stand out in the village.

SONIA FALEIRO: One of the most startling things she did was wear shorts. And this blew everyone's mind. And she became a somebody - you know, a landowner, an employed young woman. She had money to spend. And she refused to accept that she needed to be like everyone else.

MCEVERS: That's journalist Sonia Faleiro. Worst of all, she says, this woman, who Faleiro calls Baby in her writing, has a boyfriend - a boyfriend who comes from another village, another tribe. And at some point, the village council decides Baby's behavior must be punished. They tie her and the boyfriend to a tree. Baby later tells police she was dragged into one villager's hut, where 13 men take turns raping her. Sonia Faleiro reconstructed the story of what happened that night in a new e-book called "13 Men." It was just a year after another brutal gang rape in New Delhi sparked massive protests in India. When Faleiro started reporting this story, she says she believed Baby's story. But she wanted to know more about those 13 men.

FALEIRO: I wanted to know what their lives were like, what had prompted them to make this decision, because the young woman, who I call Baby in the text, had lived in this village - this tribal village of Subalpur all her life. And she was related to many of the people. They had played with her when she was a little girl.

It didn't make sense that they would make this decision. So I went to Kolkata. I met several tribal leaders. I met the lawyers for the 13 men. I met various activists. And the first thing that these tribal activists told me was Baby is lying. She is being made to lie by political forces, who have - who want to snatch tribal land and tribal control.

And it was incredibly confusing for me. Soon after that, I went to the village. I met the families of the 13 men. They were convinced again, understandably, that this incident had not happened. And then I was the first journalist and still the only journalist to get to meet Baby, who was at the time in a high-security government facility.

MCEVERS: If you could just explain for us why it was that people thought she was lying exactly?

FALEIRO: The villagers believe that Baby was paid off by local politicians, who want to snatch away tribal land, which under Indian law cannot be purchased by non-tribals. And because this land has been protected for so long, it is full of forests. It's rich with minerals and stone. It's incredibly valuable land.

So according to the villagers, the entire plan was concocted by politicians to show India that village councils make terribly poor decisions. They tell people to rape women. And therefore, tribal village councils should be banned. And the ultimate goal of banning a tribal village council would be to take away decision-making power over this incredibly rich lands that they currently control.

MCEVERS: So basically, there are two narratives here. You have the narrative of Baby, and you have this other narrative that says it's all just a conspiracy - a way for people to grab this land. I mean, was that difficult for you as a reporter to feel like you were all of a sudden doubting the account of a woman who says she was a victim of this terrible crime?

FALEIRO: That's exactly that incredibly difficult position that I was in, because I flew into Kolkata obviously believing her, because come on, who lies about something like this, let alone in India, which, you know - where we've honed the art of victim blaming to perfection. On the other hand, when I went to the village and I met the tribals, everyone in the village met my eye and they said look, we need you to know that this did not happen. Yes, we didn't like her. Yes, we tied her up. Yes, we made her stand - tie - you know, remain outside the entire night, and it was cold and freezing. It was January. We committed all those crimes, if that's what you want to call them. But this didn't happen.

And I think this was a first case that I've ever reported where I just felt incredible sympathy for everyone. And I really felt that, you know, there are multiple victims. Because let's say that if Baby is telling the truth, then we are doing her a terrible injustice by even having this conversation. But let's say that she - for the sake of argument say that she fabricated the story, then 13 men - 13 incredibly poor men - are going to spend 20 years in jail.

When it's a he-says she-says - of course, you turn to facts. But the problem is that there is no DNA evidence. There is no forensic evidence. There is no conclusive medical evidence to show that this rape happened. And the trial was conducted and a judgment passed based on the force of this young woman's testimony, which is common in India. And the Supreme Court has many, many times placed great weight on a victim's testimony. And they have taken it for granted that if a woman says she's raped, then she has been raped.

MCEVERS: And so it sounds like after eight months of reporting this out, you still don't really know which of these narratives to believe.

FALEIRO: I don't think that we ever will - you know, I really, really don't. And I feel like so much has changed since December 2012. And there are many reasons for us to feel very optimistic that India is gradually becoming a safer place for women. But I also feel that there is - the systems - they need to be finessed. You know, we need to create more central forensic science laboratories so that these - DNA evidence is processed in time. We need to make sure that good doctors, you know, test rape victims and give sort of evidence that shows one way or the other whether a rape happened or did not. Because otherwise this is not a complete justice. You know, it is a flawed justice. And then you're not really doing a justice to anybody at all.

MCEVERS: That Sonia Faleiro. Her e-book is called "13 Men." You can buy it at decastories.com. Thank you so much.

FALEIRO: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.