The Forest of Loss

From a legal perspective, justice appears to have been served in the 2017 Gudiya rape and murder case at Kotkhai, Himachal Pradesh. But several questions persist

- Ashwani Sharma

IN a tranquil village perched high atop the mountainscape of Kotkhai, accessible only through a gruelling climb on foot, a traditional home nestled amidst lush apple orchards holds a painful, poignant memory. On the wooden wall of the living room, two photographs have been hung with quiet reverence. One captures the radiant smile of a teenage girl in school uniform, her hair braided and a backpack slung over her shoulders. The other is the portrait of a face that smiles with innocence, now shadowed by profound grief.

These images are symbols of cherished memories and heart-wrenching moments, embodying the enduring spirit of a 16-year-old daughter, whose voice still echoes in Halaila forest’s eerie silence. This was the 5-km path to school she used to brave every day, driven by her desire for a brighter future.

Her grieving mother frequently takes down the photograph, gently wipes away the dust, and then places it back. When the morning sun lights up the room, she stands there motionlessly in reverence. Her eyes well up. Every tear is a testament to the heart-wrenching and horrifying loss of a daughter, whose boundless energy used to inspire her family. It’s been almost seven years now since Gudiya (a Class X student, nicknamed posthumously), the youngest of the family’s six daughters, went missing in the Halaila forest. On July 4, 2017, Gudiya went missing on the way back home from Government Senior Secondary School, Mahasu (Kotkhai). Three days later, a police First Information Report (FIR) was lodged, and her fully naked body was found in the forest, barely a few metres away from the path she used to take. Despite the absence of a motorable road to the village, she had decided to walk to school through the forest path to get the best education, believing in her potential to reach great heights. The path she travelled to school each day, a path to her dreams, had turned treacherous.