Phoolan Devi Info

7/28/2019 Phoolan Devi Info

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Phoolan Devi popularly known as the "Bandit Queen", was an Indian dacoit (bandit) and latera politician. After being gang-raped by some members of her village, Phoolan Devi turned bandit, andauthorised the killing of 22 upper-caste villagers in 1981. Following this, she became notorious acrossIndia as a bandit. Some people believe that most of her crimes were committed seeking justice forwomen's suffering, particularly those in the unfortunate lowest castes; however, the Indian authoritiesconsider this a myth.[1] She was once falsely imprisoned for seeking those involved in her rape to betried for their crimes. Then made a martyr for exacting this revenge independently from authority andas part of a gang.[2] Later, she surrendered and successfully contested election as a member of

theSamajwadi Party. The 1994 film Bandit Queen was loosely based on her life.Early lifePhoolan was born into the mallah (boatmen) caste,[3] in the small village of Ghura Ka Purwa (alsospelled Gorha ka Purwa) in Jalaun District, Uttar Pradesh.[4] She was the fourth child of Devi Din andMoola.Phoolan's father owned an acre (0.4 hectare) of land with a huge Neem tree on it. He hoped that thevaluable timberof the tree would enable him to pay the dowry for his daughters' marriages.[6] WhenPhoolan was eleven years old, her grandparents passed away within a short time and her uncledeclared himself the head of the family. He took over the inheritance by deceit, leaving Phoolan'sfamily to remain in poverty. Her Uncle had a son, Mayadin. He cut down the Neem tree and sold thewood, intending to keep the proceeds for himself. [7] Although her father submitted with mild protest,

Phoolan confronted her cousin. She taunted him, publicly called him a thief and attacked him.[6] Withher elder sister, she staged a sit-in on his land. Even after violence against Phoolan knocking herout with a brick she wouldn't relent. In an effort to rid himself of Phoolan, Mayadin arranged tohave her married to a man named Putti Lal, who lived several hundred miles away. Putti Lal was inhis thirties; Phoolan was eleven.[1]Devi claimed in her autobiography that he was a man of "very badcharacter".Phoolan's husband raped and mistreated her, which was agonising for her to endure, particularly dueto her age and isolation. She ran away several times, and would be returned to her husband forsevere punishment. She was returned to her village, being deemed too young to fulfill her duties as awife. Three years later in 1977, she was returned back to Putti Lal's home. She protested, and wasreturned back to her father's home.[7]A wife leaving her husband was a serious taboo in the rural

areas, and Phoolan was marked as a social outcast. Phoolan continued to challenge her cousinMayadin, accusing him of thievery. She took him to court for unlawfully holding her father's land, butlost the case.[7]

In 1979, Mayadin accused Phoolan of stealing small items from his house, and arranged for herarrest by the police. During the three days in jail, she was beaten and raped by the authorities. [7] Sheblamed her cousin for the injustice, and developed hatred for men who routinely denigrated women.When released from prison, she was further shunned by her village and her family. Justice waselusive and she felt hurt by her helplessness.As a dacoitIn 1979, a gang ofdacoits abducted Phoolan; some also say that she was not kidnapped but "walkedaway from her life".[7] The gang leader, Babu Gujjar, who was aGujjar, wanted to rape her. However,

she was protected by Vikram Mallah, the second-in-command of the gang who belonged to Phoolan'scaste. One night when Babu attempted to rape Phoolan, Vikram killed him and assumed the gangleadership. Phoolan fell in love with this man who had undoubtedly protected her, and becameVikram's second wife. The gang ransacked the village where Phoolan's husband lived. Phoolanstabbed her estranged husband, and dragged him in front of the villagers. The gang left him lyingalmost dead by the road, with a note as a warning for older men who marry young girls.Phoolan Devi learned how to use a rifle from Vikram, and participated in the gang's activities acrossUttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The activities consisted of ransacking high-caste villages,kidnapping upper-caste landowners forransom and train robberies. After every crime, Phoolan Deviwould visit a Durga temple and thank the goddess for her protection. [3] The gang hid out in the ravinesofChambal in Dholpur.

Behmai incidentsSometime later, Shri Ram and Lala Ram, two upper-caste dacoit brothers belonging to the Thakurcaste, returned to the gang. They were outraged by the killing of the gang leader by a low caste gangmember.[7] Shri Ram would make sexual advances towards Phoolan. This led to tensions betweenShri Ram and Vikram, who made him apologize to Phoolan. When the gang would ransack a village,
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Shri Ram would beat and insult the Mallahs. This displeased the Mallahs in the gang, many of whomleft the gang. When Shri Ram got a dozen Thakurs to join the gang, Vikram suggested the gang bedivided into two, but Shri Ram refused. Shortly afterwards, Shri Ram and other Thakur members inthe gang attempted to kill Phoolan and Vikram, who managed to escape. However, later they killedVikram, abducted Phoolan and locked her up in the Behmai village.[3]

Phoolan Devi was beaten and raped by several men in Behmai. [7] After three weeks, she managed toescape with two other Mallahs from Vikram's gang, helped by a low-caste villager. She gathered agang of Mallahs, that she led with Man Singh, a member of Vikram's former gang. The gang carried

out a series of violent robberies in north and central India, mainly targeting upper-caste people. Somesay that Phoolan Devi targeted only the upper-caste people and shared the loot with the lower-castepeople, but the Indian authorities insist this is a myth.[1]

Seventeen months after her escape from Behmai, Phoolan returned to the village, to take herrevenge. On 14 February 1981, Phoolan and her gang marched into the Behmai village, dressed aspolice officers. The Thakurs in the village were preparing for a wedding. Phoolan's gang demandedthat her kidnappers be produced, along with all the valuables in the village. Details of what exactlyhappened are not available, but Phoolan is said to have recognized two men who earlier had sexuallyassaulted her and murdered her lover. When Phoolan's gang failed to find all the kidnappers after anexhaustive search, she ordered her gang members to line up all the upper-caste Thakur men in thevillage and shoot them. The dacoits opened fire and killed twenty-two Thakur men, most of whom

were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Later, Phoolan Devi claimed that she herself didn't killanybody in Behmai all the killings were carried out by her gang members. [3]

The Behmai massacre was followed by a massive police manhunt that failed to locate PhoolanDevi. V. P. Singh, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, resigned in the wake of the Behmaikillings.[8] Phoolan Devi began to be called the Bandit Queen. Dolls of Phoolan Devi dressed as Hindugoddess Durga were sold in market towns in Uttar Pradesh. She was glorified by much of the Indianmedia.[1]

Surrender and jail termTwo years after the Behmai massacre the police had still not captured Phoolan Devi. The IndiraGandhi Government decided to negotiate a surrender. By this time, Phoolan Devi was in poor healthand most of her gang members were dead. In February 1983, she agreed to surrender to the

authorities. However, she said that she didn't trust the Uttar Pradesh police and insisted that shewould only surrender to the Madhya Pradesh Police. She also insisted that she would lay down herarms only before Mahatma Gandhi's picture and the Hindu goddessDurga, not to the police.[9] Sheput before four conditions :[citation needed]

Affirmation of an aversion ofdeath penalty The term for the other members should not exceed eight years. A plot of land for her reconciliation. Her entire family should be escorted by the police to her surrender ceremony

An unarmed police chief met her at a hiding place in the Chambal ravines. They walked their wayto Bhind, where she laid her rifle before the portraits of Gandhi and Goddess Durga. The onlookersincluded a crowd of around 10,000 people and 300 police and the then chief minister of Madhya

Pradesh,Arjun Singh. 300 police personnel were waiting to arrest her and other members of hergang who surrendered at the same time.Phoolan Devi was charged with 48 crimes, including 30 charges of dacoity (banditry) and kidnapping.Her trial was delayed for 11 years, which she served in the prison. During this period, she wasoperated on forovarian cysts and was given an unnecessary hysterectomy. The doctor of the hospitalreportedly said later that "We don't want Phoolan Devi breeding more Phoolan Devis". [10] She wasfinally released on parole in 1994 after persuasion by Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, the leader ofthe Nishadha fishermen community. The Government of Uttar Pradesh, led by Mulayam SinghYadav, withdrew all the cases against her.ElectionIn 1996, she stood for election to the 11th Lok Sabha, representing the Samajwadi Party, on a

platform of helping the poor and oppressed. She was elected in the constituency of Mirzapurin UttarPradesh. She lost her seat in the 1998 election but was reelected in the 1999 election and was asitting member of parliament when she was assassinated.Movie and autobiography
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Shekhar Kapurmade a movie Bandit Queen (1994) about Phoolan Devi's life up to her 1983surrender, based on Mala Sen's 1993 bookIndias Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi.[11] Although Phoolan Devi is a heroine in the film, she fiercely disputed its accuracy and fought to getit banned in India. She even threatened to immolate herself outside a theater if the film were notwithdrawn. Eventually, she withdrew her objections after the producerChannel 4 paid her 40,000.[11] The film brought her international recognition. Author-activistArundhati Roy in her film reviewentitled, "The Great Indian Rape Trick", questioned the right to "restage the rape of a living womanwithout her permission", and charged Shekhar Kapur with exploiting Phoolan Devi and

misrepresenting both her life and its meaning. [12]Although she was illiterate, Phoolan composed her autobiography entitled The Bandit Queen of India:An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey From Peasant to International Legend, with the help ofinternational authors Marie-Therese Cuny and Paul Rambali. [13]

DeathOn 25 July 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead by three masked gunmen outside of her Delhibungalow. She was hit five times: three shots to her head and two to her body. [citation needed] The gunmenfled the scene in a Maruti car. [14] She was taken to a nearby hospital but was declared dead. Theprime person accused of the murder, Sher Singh Rana alias Pankaj, later surrendered himself to thepolice.[15] Rana allegedly claimed to have murdered Phoolan Devi to take revenge for the 21 upper-caste men she gunned down in the Behmai massacre. [16]

In the immediate aftermath of the murder, the police were accused of incompetence in their handlingof the case. It was alleged that a party worker picked up revolvers that had been dumped by thekillers and hid them. Three other people staying in her house were accused of knowing about therevolvers. The revolvers then disappeared before the police could conduct a forensic test on them. [17]
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Phoolan Devi Info