Dilshad Begum Abdul Jalil Bangalore “RTU showed me a new direction in life”. Her name reveals her father and the place of origin. Abdul Jalil is her father and Bangalore, the place where the family hailed from. Dilshad is the first born of three children to Abdul Jalil. She was born in 1980. She studied up to SSLC. Once she discontinued her education the parents decided to get her married. She married Khalil Ahamed Saudagar, a metal furniture maker, in 2000. This was an arranged marriage.Her husband was very good and caring until the birth of their son. Remembers Dilshad. The problem began when her husband’s family wanted to buy a goods-trolley. They wanted Rs.20,000. The in-laws including her five brothers-in-law pressed her to get the money from her parents. Dilshad’s father, then a taxi driver, certainly could not have managed that big amount. Dilshad preferred not to convey the absurd demand of her in-laws to her parents. The pressure kept mounting on her. When the pressure tactics did not yield the physical torture began. She complained her husband. But the husband would not believe it. Dilshad knew her life was threatened yet she could not share her trauma with her parents. She feared they would be disturbed. Dilshad could only tell her agony to some of her neighbors who besides offering her a few commiserating words could do nothing to help her out of the hell.
Then it happened in November 2001. The evening was like any other ordinary evening. There was nothing unusual in the family. Recalls Dilshad. At around 4:30 pm her mother-in-law asked her to prepare tea. The baby was with the mother-in-law. She lighted the stove and put the pan with water on it. Dilshad was completely unaware of her mother-in-law who was approaching stealthily from her behind with a can filled with kerosene oil. She added milk and tea powder to the boiling water. 
               Dilshad Begum
Her mother-in-law kept moving until she stood  close behind her. Then she opened the can and emptied the contents all over her body. Before Dilshad could know what was happening around her the fire from the stove engulfed her. She cried for help. Her in-laws watched the dance of death unperturbed. Her cry for help reached the neighbors. The neighbours rushed and covered her with a blanket. She was rushed to the hospital. Dilshad survived. But her face and hands were no longer the same.
She was forced not to say anything to the police. She told them it was an accident. After her recovery she went and lived with her parents. Her husband and in-laws never came to take her. Her parents moved the zamat (a committee of elders in the locality who settled disputes off the court). Her husband sought a talaq (divorce) in the zamat. Talaq was granted. That was the end of Dilshad’s horrendous marital life.
In January 2003 Dilshad came to RTU in search of a new beginning. The wounds of her hands were not even healed. She was asked to come when the wounds were healed. She came back in June 2003 and was admitted in the General Craft. Since then she has not looked back. “RTU showed me a new direction in life”, says an emotional Dilshad. “In the aftermath of what happened to me I was so confused. I didn’t know how to start afresh, how to groom my child. RTU kindled new hopes in my shattered life, gave it a new meaning.”        

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