Twenty-year-old Sudha lives in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh. She was five when her mother died. Her father, a poor temple priest, managed to get his four daughters and two sons married. Sudha has had to discontinue her studies after school and work as a beedi worker. She helps out an NGO called Society for Women’s Awareness and Rural Development (SWARD) in her free time after being initiated into it by her sister-in-law.

The event that proved to be the turning point in her life was intertwined with the life of her sister. Sudha’s second sister, who then lived 80 kms away from Medak, would often complain of her husband’s violent ways. He had even attempted to kill her several times and she survived only because of timely interventions by neighbours. One evening, Sudha was informed that her sister had run away from home with her children and was hiding in a neighbour’s house. Worried for her sister’s safety, Sudha immediately rushed to her rescue. Undaunted by the distance, she walked to her sister’s village reaching there very late at night. When she learnt that her sister had attempted suicide, she persuaded her to leave her husband at once and return home with her. She then mobilised the women from SWARD and lodged an official complaint against her brother-in-law at the police station. The complaint was registered after a lot of resistance. Says Sudha, “But I stood my ground and insisted on justice for my sister.”

There has been no turning back after this event. Sudha was convinced that no one should live under the shadow of violence. Little wonder then that when she learnt of a young girl being raped by her father, Sudha went over to the family and convinced them to lodge a police complaint. Today the father is in jail and has been denied bail. The case has been widely covered by the local TV channels.