MY VIEW: #IAmSuzette And This Is What God Said To Me

Suzette Jordan left this world half way through her journey to getting justice. On the final hearing of her case today, our reader Manabi Katoch thinks this is a letter that Suzette would have written to us after her death.

By TBI Reader

April 11, 2015

February 2012 changed the life of one girl. A girl called Suzette Jordan. A free, lively, independent woman. A woman who we want our daughters to be – liberated. A woman we can all relate to. A woman who could have been one to live her life on her own terms, taking care of her family and having no regrets.

But rather, she became the “Park Street Rape Victim”. And her life changed forever. She spent her entire life fighting for justice, raising her voice against the wrong done to her, not ready to give up till her last breath. Sadly, she left this world half way through her journey, when on March 13, 2015, she died at the age of 40 due to meningoencephalitis in a Kolkata hospital.

She could not get justice while she was alive, but Jordan is not just a woman anymore. She has become a voice. A voice for all women.

If she were alive, she would have raised her voice yet another time. But as she knocked at the door of heaven, this is a letter she would have sent back to all of us on earth –

11th March, 2015

Hi #IamSuzette,

You know me more as the ‘Park street rape victim/survivor’. Though till my last breath I wanted to tell each one of you that #IamSuzette – Suzette Katrina Jordan!

My soul left this world on 13th March 2015. When I stood at the door of heaven, no one denied me entry, no one judged me because my body was raped. I was used to the cross questions for the last 3 years of my life and so I was prepared to be questioned on my character here too.

But God welcomed me with two open arms because I am not that body anymore… #IamSuzette.

Before the ugly night of 6th February 2012, I was a mother, a daughter, a working woman whose family was dependent on her, a joyful friend whose friends are still fighting for her plight after she is gone.

But after that night people wanted me to be only ‘the park street rape victim’. The rapists are still called ‘Sumit Bajaj’, ‘Ruman Khan’ and ‘ Nasir Khan’. Then why me? Yes #IamSuzette.

God asked me to sit just next to him. I was surprised – why would he do that? He said, he loves me and appreciates the way I led my life. I was confused. I thought he would hate me too, like everyone else did, for what I am. “But God, I led my life just doing what I wanted to do, just living as I wanted to live, just being me,” I said.

“And how many can do that, my child?” asked God.

Today, 11th April 2015, is the final hearing of Suzette Jordan’s case. Her friend Harish Iyer has appealed to each one of us to support her by using the hashtag #IamSuzette in as many articles and social media mentions as possible.

Suzette always believed in living her life to the fullest and letting others live their’s. Please pray that her last wish to get justice is granted. Please pray for her soul to rest in peace. Please pray that every man respects and every woman has the courage to stand for #IamSuzette.

– Manabi Katoch

Photos: Facebook

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About the author: A Mechanical engineer, Manabi Katoch has been brought up listening to Tagore’s poems and stories, so she is kind of an emotional person within. She loves writing poems and stories on social and political issues. Few of her poems can be viewed on www.poemocean.com and satires on www.mindthenews.com. She has worked with Wipro, Frankfinn and Educomp in the past.