Suzette Jordan was the gang-rape victim in the incident that took place in Park Street, Kolkata, in 2012. At that time the Chief Minister of West Bengal had made the infamous statement that it was a 'cooked-up affair' and had transferred the woman police officer in charge of the case who had dared to contradict her. Another TMC woman MP had publicly commented that 'it was not a case of rape but of misunderstanding between the woman and her client'. In spite of protests from the women's movement deliberate attempts were made by the administration to undermine the investigation and to deny her justice. But Suzette stood up in the face of these heinous attempts to malign her and to shelter the culprits. She publicly revealed her identity with the words: Why should I be ashamed as the victim of rape? it is the miscreants who should hide their faces. She coupled her courageous words with action when she openly joined rallies on the streets organized against the increasing incidence of sexual violence on women in West Bengal. She became a soldier in the women's movement. This extraordinarily brave woman breathed her last in Kolkata on Friday, 13 March, from an attack of meningo-encephalitis. She died without getting justice as the administration has still not succeeded in arresting the main culprit in the case and the judicial process is continuing. We mourn her untimely death while applauding the example she has set for us in our struggle against atrocities on women. We also resolve to see that culprits are apprehended and punished.
