Sunita had a monsterous childhood.When first born,mom,over and over,would beg her dad"kill the girl child"and she would stick needles in Sunita at night to make her cry and say"See.Kill the girl"Sunita's oldest brother was 7 years old,he remembers.Family is shit dirt poor.Almost begger poor.As a baby,Sunita's father goes off to work a seven day job.He returns 3 days early and asks "Where is my Sunita?" Finally mom says she threw Sunita into a roadside garbage dump.Father rushed to the place and saved little Sunita.Barely.
It gets terribly worst when Sunita turns three,dad is hit by a bus,on his death bed,makes mom promise not to kill Sunita.Dad dies.Sunita's life goes straight into a hell hole.Mom remarries,a drunk abusive bastard,who declares "Not my kids,I will not feed them!"Same time,mom lets Sunita get hit by bus,skull fracture and skin grafts for the little 4 year old girl.She nearly dies..Oldest brother, now 11, is driven away from the home.
Sunita and her other brother,Shabeard, were never allowed to go to school.One time,Sunita went to school for two days.(you should see her eyes light up when she told me this story,I swear it was the happiest moment of her life).dad finds out and beats Sunita and the whole family for three days,as a lesson.
Dad refuses to feed Sunita and bro,they would eat banana peals and wait for neighbors to put rice out for the pigs and they would run over and eat the pig rice.Sunita would sell trickets to make money to eat.
Of course,whore mom had a boyfriend,he shows up,fights with mom and grabs Sunita by the hair,swings her around and throws her off of a cliff.Sunita dislocates her ankle and breaks her leg.carried back to hut,mom/stepdad refuse to take Sunita to the hospital untill the next day on Monday,it was cheaper.That night,mom kept hitting Sunita.for crying and accusing her of faking it.Her foot is pointed in the opposite direction than what is normal.Sunita is 7.
At hospital,mom isn't much help,( India,even today,a patient must have food brought and relatives are expected to find and give meds and take care of patients.Plus female patients, they must be protected at night from sexual assault.Still very popular in India)With no family help,Sunita tries to walk to toliet and rebreaks her leg.Now the Government hospital is talking of cutting off her leg!!! The neighbors shame mom into taking Sunita to good hospital and save her leg.
By age 5,Sunita and bro are not allowed to sleep in the hut.Hell,they are not being fed.They must sleep in the brush nearby.By 8,Sunita is working construction jobs,at half pay,it is more than drunk dad makes.Bro too,must work.Now at 8-9 Sunita is being fed,but after dinner,mom would tie Sunita to a chair and heat spoons,knives over a flame and burn Sunita,pour hot wax over her back too.She has the scars to prove it too.Mom is careful not to burn Sunita's chest,limiting the scaring to the back and arms.
Dads favorite move,was to punch Sunita right between the eyes,sending her out the door as she tried to walk into hut.A few broken noses and dislocated jaws later....Now Sunita has trouble breathing And she can pop her jaw into and out of dislocation at will....
Mom's favorite:was to put Sunita into a burlap sack,throw a hand full of chiily powder in to her eyes,tie the sack closed,and beat on her with a large club.Time and again,the neighbors would come over and stop the torture being inflicted on such a beautiful,little girl.They would beg,"Please give her to us..Please stop!You are going to kill her."
At 10-11,a Sex Trade Trafficker,came and asked to buy Sunita for the brothels of Bombay.mom refused.Sunita was a very pretty little girl..The promise to the dead dad??..maybe..Instead,she was "rented" as a house girl,for $10 a month.To work as a house servent 24 hours/7 days a week.
At 8-10,Hell,I don't know,"dad"punches Sunita in the face,as she staggers across the dark field,blood gushing from her nose,tears blinding her eyes,Sunita is bitten by a cobra.At first mom/dad were not going to take her for treatment.BUT the neighbors,once again,show up and save this little girls life.Hospital for 3 days,mom came everyday,sit by the bed and stick Sunita with a needle over and over again,cursing Sunita for the hospital bill
This shit repeated itself untill she was 16-17...Time to sell Sunita into marriage.Sunita refused the first three men...But mom/StepDAD had taken money from the 3rd man,Sunita refused,so she was beaten,taken to the trees,with arms tied behind her back,Sunita was hung from a tree by the arms tied behind her.The family would take turns beating her through the night.After 8-9-10 hours of pure torture,Sunita agreed to marriage...Say hello to husband #1...I am Sunita's husband now.
This info came to me as we were falling in love,I thought it was a good idea to share childhood memories and such.To my dismay,I was to stupid to stop at first,so I have only touched the surface.Yes,I did not share some of the events I learned from Sunita.
During this 2 month period of sharing childhood memories,Sunita said she had 10 siblings.Wait!.I only count 7 siblings...?.Where are the three I don't see?.It took me a year to work up the courage and the stomach to ask Sunita about her three missing siblings...
Well I did.between the two oldest brothers there is a five year gap,of no kids... turns out,mom had three beautiful girls.In 5 years--three girl babies...Dead..Dead..Dead...Three sisters, before Sunita,none of them lived past 2 years old.
Sunita told me these crushing stories as if she was describing a nice,happy,church picnic.It tears my heart out when we drive by a school and children and I see the look in her eyes.I can not imagine what she is thinking.And I don't have the stomach to ask,fearing I will bring up more painful memories.I have sat on this info for 10 years.I think it is time to share it.
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We are sitting on a local bus,Sunita sees her mom a couple seats in front of us,she insists I give her money so she can give to mom..I simply refuse..I'm not going to.
Sunita insists..I look into her sad brown eyes and I ask Sunita,"Why do you want to give this woman any money?"...Sunita looks at me and replies simply,......"If I do,maybe she will love me"............................
