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Purnima Govindarajulu, a Canadian of Indian origin, mustered the courage to take on her alleged perpetrator four decades after suffering abuse. It was her meeting with WCD minister Maneka Gandhi in January and her request that limitations for filing a case by survivors of child abuse be eased that became an important reason for a review of the law. A conservation biologist, she spoke to Ambika Pandit on her struggle.

Do you feel any closer to justice today and will you now file a complaint?

This clarification is going to make a difference to millions of survivors and I am optimistic that this will help reduce the levels of child sexual abuse . I feel the government should also specify through their statement that it applies to cases that happened before the POCSO Act came in 2012 to ensure the lawyers and enforcement agencies are in no doubt. Today, justice for me is about holding the perpetrator accountable through law. I will certainly file a complaint but it is up to the authorities if they want to pursue my case. I often think that though I broke my silence before my family in my late 20s, no action was taken against the perpetrator. He went about his life, but my life and the life of his other victims was adversely impacted forever. I feared having children and had bad relationships. To most people, I come across as a strong person who is also successful in her life but inside, I know there are deep scars.

When did you first think of taking on your perpetrator?

I grew up in Chennai and the perpetrator was a relative who started abusing me when I was around 10 and this went on till I was 13. I never protested as I did not know what was happening to me. All I knew was that it was not right and it filled me with fear, pain, guilt and depressed me. I never told anyone as the perpetrator made me feel it was my fault. I moved to Canada when I was around 21 in 1986 and came back only a few times to India. It was in 2013 that I had an encounter with my perpetrator when I had no choice but to visit an ageing relative. I saw a small child in the house and I was filled with dread. This is when I decided to do something about it.

Taking the legal route must not have been easy?

It was not an easy decision. I returned to Canada and consulted lawyers and it turned out that Canada has a system for recording testimonies of survivors and there are no time constraints for pursuing cases. A file was created but the perpetrator was an Indian based in India. They, however, gave me the recorded statement as a document to try and start proceedings in India. In Chennai, the police expressed helplessness in registering a case citing time limitations for filing cases.

What were the challenges you faced as you decided not to give up?

I was told that Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, will not apply in my case as the law is not retrospective. This is when I filed a petition with Change.org in October 2016 for change in laws and clarity on POCSO. I wrote to Maneka Gandhi and met her in January to share my account and explain how enabling adult survivors will contribute to preventing current and future child sexual abuse.

