Pahila
mala chambharin bolvayche, ata maanane taai bolavtat
(First they used to call me chambharin, now they call me taai)
A young Dalit widow
with two children, Asha Kamble was harassed by a Vanjari man when she refused
his advances. Now in her mid-thirties, Asha
established herself
as a tailor after her husband’s death 10 years ago. She went to the police four
times to complain; every time, she was turned away. Once the man had, in a drunken state, knocked on her door
at midn