This story is from December 24, 2004

'Don't let another Bijal Joshi happen'

AHMEDABAD: As the yearend party scene warms up, the father of Bijal Joshi has a word of caution for parents : Don't let another Bijal Joshi happen!
'Don't let another Bijal Joshi happen'
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But we are no Zahira Sheikh, we will fight till                          œH`ñÿH Normal OJQJ^J_HaJmH sH tH DA@òÿ¡D Default Paragraph FontRi@óÿ³R  Table Normalö4Ö l4Öaö (kôÿÃ�(No List2 ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿ»>Q¼uU2 ÜÃ�´µ‹ÂŒCD  14˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€˜0€€D  14M900 Â�Ü{ÕM90€M90€ôµ¶M900 Â�2 2 2 ð8ð@ñÿÿÿ€€€÷ð’ðð0ð( ð ððB ðS ð¿Ëÿ ?ð>Cwۘ־ëov~†ÂŒÂ’x€|„Â�–ÔÚ!(0<­¶¯µèñ"+2&/4Öߥ¦4::4Ã¥i]c)8fèeÜÿ@€11„®S112°@ÿÿUnknownÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿGÂ�‡z €ÿTimes New Roman5Â�€Symbol3&Â� ‡z €ÿArial"1ÂŒÃ�Ã�h•ÅŒ¦•ÅŒ¦9ù9ùÃ�Â¥À´´Â�Â�24d..3ƒÃ�L)ðÿ ?äÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ)8fÿÿrajeshkrajeshkOlePres000ÿÿÿÿ ‚WordDocumentÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ"SummaryInformation(ÿÿÿÿ*DocumentSummaryInformation8ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ2ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ;à5@  ¦  `.û¼"SystemÜãríÆ0PÃC -ûÖÿÂ�@"Arial- ‘2 &Y]AHMEDABAD: As the yearend party scene warms up, the father of Bijal Joshi, who committed o#       $          ##  2 VM]suicide after allegedly being gangraped by her supposed friends at a New Year                   2 V°]-P"2 V¾]eve party last     z2 †J]year, has a word of caution for parents : Don''t let another Bijal Joshi ha                 2 †]ppen!e 2 †„] P 2 ¶] Pž2 æb]"Young girls and their parents should go out of their way to find out about the persons with whom                        $ ¡2 d]they will be attending New Year parties. My daughter paid a heavy price for trusting her friends...           #              X2 E3]please don''t let another Bijal Joshi happen," says r            2 E” ]Bipin Joshi.    2 Ej] P 2 u] PÂ’2 Â¥Z]"We never thought something so horrendous could happen to our sister. Please be careful," )   $                   š2 Õ_]echoes Bijal''s sister Vaishali. The Joshis are going through a emotionally trying phase as the                  $        2 ]year 2 Q]-P"2 _]end approaches.  2 •] P 2 5] P@2 e#]"This year has been hellish for us.         j2 es?] It has been an unending battle to fight off pressures exerted              £2 •e]from all quarters by the relatives of the accused," says Vaishali who has been trying to get justice  $                         "2 Ã…]for her sister.      2 Ã…ô] P 2 õ] P|2 %K]"They have done everything from assassinating my character to turning my fra      $    #      $ )2 %Š]iends against me. A    $   2 Uc]lot of pressure is being exerted through various quarters to break my spirit but I will never give e                $       (2 „]up," Vaishali says.      2 „S] P 2 ´] P£2 äe]The Joshis admit that they are alone in their battle for justice. "This Diwali, not many people came    #                   $   $ "2 ]to visit us. It     n2 Ã�B] has been a very lonely battle," Bijal''s mother Himanginiben says.             $   $    2 Â�] P 2 D] P•2 t\]"There are over 500 members in my extended family. But now just the five of us support each     $#  #   #           ›2 ¤`]other," says Bipinbhai confessing that there is tremendous pressure on them to give up the legal             $   $       2 ¤ë] P 2 Ô]battle.  2 Ôr] P 2 ] P›2 4`]"We are being approached through our friends and relatives. In fact, even those who do not have )                    ¦2 dg]a vested interest say that we should settle the issue. But we are no Zahira Sheikh, we will fight till                          R2 “/]justice is done," says Bipinbhai. Theirs is a c              _2 “38]rusade for justice, say the Joshis. "After Bijal''s rape               ”2 Ã[]and suicide became public, many girls showed courage and sought justice. In fact, one rape h    $   $             ›2 ó`]victim from Morbi stayed with us in our house, for a week. I am fighting because I want to show   # $ #            $       2 # ]the world tha    S2 #ï0]t not everything can be bought," says Bipinbhai.             2 #^] P 2 S] P-NANI      ›2 ¤`]other," says Bipinbhai confessing that theì¥Ã�5@ ð¿2bjbjÃ�2Ã�2 "­X­X2ÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ:::::::p $ pè¶<<<<<giiiiii$žRð FÂ�:Â�::<<Û¢CCC:<:<gCgCCC::C<0 €S&úØéÄ"Cg¸0èC6 96 CNb::::6 :C$CÂ�Â�ppt¤9 pptAHMEDABAD: As the yearend party scene warms up, the father of Bijal Joshi, who committed suicide after allegedly being gangraped by her supposed friends at a New Year-eve party last year, has a word of caution for parents : Don''t let another Bijal Joshi happen! "Young girls and their parents should go out of their way to find out about the persons with whom they will be attending New Year parties. My daughter paid a heavy price for trusting her friends... please don''t let another Bijal Joshi happen," says Bipin Joshi. "We never thought something so horrendous could happen to our sister. Please be careful," echoes Bijal''s sister Vaishali. The Joshis are going through a emotionally trying phase as the year-end approaches. "This year has been hellish for us. It has been an unending battle to fight off pressures exerted from all quarters by the relatives of the accused," says Vaishali who has been trying to get justice for her sister. "They have done everything from assassinating my character to turning my friends against me. A lot of pressure is being exerted through various quarters to break my spirit but I will never give up," Vaishali says. The Joshis admit that they are alone in their battle for justice. "This Diwali, not many people came to visit us. It has been a very lonely battle," Bijal''s mother Himanginiben says. "There are over 500 members in my extended family. But now just the five of us support each other," says Bipinbhai confessing that there is tremendous pressure on them to give up the legal battle. "We are being approached through our friends and relatives. In fact, even those who do not have a vested interest say that we should settle the issue. But we are no Zahira Sheikh, we will fight till justice is done," says Bipinbhai. Theirs is a crusade for justice, say the Joshis. "After Bijal''s rape and suicide became public, many girls showed courage and sought justice. In fact, one rape victim from Morbi stayed with us in our house, for a week. I am fighting because I want to show the world that not everything can be bought," says Bipinbhai. 12üøhèeÜhi]c   Ü Ã� ´ µ ‹ ÂŒ C D  12úH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSúH!PSgdi]c2ý 1Â�h°Ã�/ °à=!°"°#Â� $Â� %°þÿà…ŸòùOh«‘+''³Ù0dÂ�˜¤°ÀÃŒØè ø  , 8DLT\ässrajeshkajeajeNormalrajeshk1jeMicrosoft Word 10.0@FÃ#@ò¿ØéÄ@ò¿ØéÄ9ùþÿÕÃ�՜.“—+,ù®0ô hpˆÂ�˜  ¨°¸À È Õä timesonlinee.A  Title
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About the Author
Radha Sharma

Radha Sharma is assistant editor at The Times of India, Ahmedabad, and covers issues related to health and social development. Her interest lies in doing socially relevant campaigns and human interest stories. She likes to read fiction and listen to music.

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