Former volleyball player Arunima still seeking justice
Arunima is still around, despite the fact that world has forgotten her memory as an irrelevant piece of information. The 25-year-old Indian volleyball player has not yet gotten justice as she tries to escape from the tragic incident of April 12th,
2011.
What turned Arunima’s life upside down was a robbery that she was a victim of while travelling on a train called the Padmavati Express. Some looters came upon the young athlete and tried to rob her of her gold chain. In the scuffle that followed, Arunima
was pushed off from the train. As a result of the impact with the tracks and another train that was coming from the opposite direction, Arunima suffered major injuries which included the loss of a leg.
Arunima was making the journey to appear for a government job test. Ironically, the same government did not pay attention to the plight of the young athlete when first her story became public. The initial response was to deal with the matter by offering
a meager sum of money as compensation for Arunima’s loss. At her protest and in response of the media hype that was created, the government duly increased the amount and promised Arunima a government job as well as a prosthetic leg.
As if her physical trauma was not enough, Arunima’s emotional trauma was added to when the Government Railway Police raised concerns over the authenticity of Arunima’s story. That was at the base of the reasons why the investigations into the matter of the
robbery have been stopped.
Commenting on the stance that the GRP had taken, Arunima said, "They are changing my version, so that they can hide their own inadequacies."
Unfortunately for Arunima, life has become much harder than before. She is still at the Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre being treated for her injuries and awaiting the addition of a prosthetic leg while the world has conveniently forgotten the injustice
done to her that has put Arunima’s future into jeopardy. The matter has been sidelined by placing a shadow of doubt on Arunima’s story while no evidence to negate it has come to light.
Following suit, the media has also shifted its gaze from Arunima, no longer finding enough spice to stay tuned with Arunima’s life that has been difficult from the start. Arunima had to put a pause to playing volleyball while she was a teenager because her
financial situation pressed upon her to earn a living. It was the same need that drove her to go to Delhi en route which the tragic incident took place. Ironically, Arunima is now more hard put to support herself financially as finding a job with a disability
is not an easy feat.
It would be the least that the government and the media would do to ensure her future stability and not abandon her to oblivion.
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