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'I told Indian court I had been sexually assaulted. They asked if I drank' and everyone laughed'
Amar Singh, Emma Rowley, and Anthony Dias in Gujarat17 Sep 2009
A London woman told today how she was humiliated in an Indian courtroom after allegedly being attacked in her home.
Kaya Eldridge, a charity worker from Dulwich, is fighting a bitter battle claiming she was "laughed at" in the witness box for accusing a plumber of molesting her.
The 23-year-old, who is working in India's western state of Gujarat on a three-month exchange programme, has sparked a national debate on the treatment of women in the Indian justice system after sacking her state-appointed lawyer for "abandoning" her in court this week.
She was then asked a series of "demeaning" questions for an hour, including whether she was staying in India illegally, and whether she drank alcohol or smoked.
Today as her mother prepared to fly to India to support her, she called on Gordon Brown to help her get justice.
She said: "My prime minister should know what is happening to me. The experience in court was humiliating. It was aggressive and relentless and seemed to be entirely aimed at demeaning and breaking me as far as possible.
"The government prosecutor appointed to my case seemed completely indifferent. I felt powerless and helpless, as if I did not have a voice."
Meena Jagtap, the lawyer whom Ms Eldridge appointed, said: "Kaya knows only English and she was not provided a translator. Everyone was laughing at her. Even the defence lawyer was also laughing."
Ms Eldridge travelled to India last month and is working as an intern for London-based exchange programme provider AIESEC, for the Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan, a non-governmental organisation supporting women in village councils.
She says she was sexually assaulted at her rented home at Satellite Nagar in Ahmedabad on 24 August by a plumber, Mr Pragnesh, who "grabbed her bottom, breast and waist". She fought him off but was left with bruises on her thighs.
Her case, which has been adjourned until 30 September, has begun a media frenzy in India.
Ms Eldridge will march this weekend for better treatment of women in Ahmedabad and has written to the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, requesting a judicial inquiry
Her mother, Angela Dudhill, 44, who lives near Sheffield, said: "The defence lawyer gave a line of questioning that because you're white and English you must be a bit of a tart, so there. They absolutely humiliated her in court.
"People were ridiculing her and humiliating her but she just thought 'I'm not having this'. They said she had made it up to get a good grade in her internship."
Ms Eldridge studied at Hampstead school and at Westminster-Kingsway college. She graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in international relations last year.
Reader views (4)
Why do women go there anyhow?
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 17/09/2009 21:36
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I wonder how well they treat Indian women in court?
- Paul, London, 17/09/2009 16:55
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As the British Gvmt seem to step in every time so-called "British" people get caught on drugs/murder charges abroad then I would hope that they would assist this lady, who is clearly not getting the representation she deserves, and who is the victim rather than defendant.
Or will they leave her to her own devices because she is white, and it won't cause so much political favour to assist her?
- Smb, London, UK, 17/09/2009 16:07
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If similar had happened to an Indian here, the whole of India and the diaspora, would be raging in hysterical uproar and calling our courts racist.
- Geoffrey, London, 17/09/2009 15:06
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