Trigger warning: Mention of sexual abuse
Rani* was only 12 when she began work as a domestic help in Goa—a caregiver for children. Since then she has travelled back and forth several times to her home village in Odisha’s Gajapati district from multiple Indian states, doing domestic chores, living the displaced life of a migrant worker in search of livelihood.
But on October 15, two weeks after the 23-year-old Kandha tribal woman landed in Kochi in Kerala to work as a house help, she was raped by her employer. The perpetrator, K Sivaprasad, a retired government official who worked in senior leadership roles in state PSUs and scientific research organisations, has been on the run ever since.
“He should be caught at the earliest—no one else should have to go through what I’m experiencing now,” said Rani, when TNM met her at the office of her lawyer Sandhya Raju, who heads the Centre for Constitutional Rights Research and Advocacy. Sivaprasad, a 75-year-old man, offered her a glass of juice spiked with alcohol and assaulted her while she lay unconscious in her room.
Sivaprasad’s LinkedIn profile shows him as an advisor for DLF Home Developers and a professional who worked as Managing Director of nine Public Sector Undertakings of the Government of Kerala for a period of 23 years.
“I can’t express how grateful I am,” said Rani, who was starting a new job that day. She was happy that there were people around, trying to help but she has decided not to go back to domestic work again.
“For the past 11 years, I was treated well and never had a bad experience with anyone. But now, I can’t do it anymore,” she said. In Goa, at the age of 12, she was tasked with the care of two toddlers.
“The kids were just a year old when I arrived. The couple treated me like another daughter. I stayed there for four years. When they planned to migrate and the kids started school, I had to leave. Both the family and I were equally sad to part ways,” she said with a smile.
She was 16 when she returned to her village in Odisha’s Gajapati district, taking up various jobs locally. “I stayed in the village for a year, but I wasn’t earning much. There wasn’t enough food. So I went to Tamil Nadu and worked there for a few years,” she said. Rani went back to Odisha and was struggling when her distant relative, Amit, spoke to her about a job in Kochi.
“They offered Rs 15,000 a month, along with free food and accommodation. I was thrilled—it was a huge amount for me. I could even send some money home," she said.
She arrived at the house in the first week of October, though she couldn’t recall the exact date. "An elderly couple lived there. They have two daughters—one in Bengaluru and the other in Thiruvananthapuram. I told them I didn’t know how to cook Kerala food, so they said I’d only need to do cleaning and other household chores. It went well for a week; they were kind to me," she recalled.
A few days after the first week, the wife went out for errands, leaving her alone with the husband in the house. "He asked me to clean a room that was already tidy and then said he’d help me, putting his hands on my shoulders while I worked. I felt uncomfortable and told him he could go rest, that I’d handle it myself. But he insisted, twice. Then he assured me he was only helping so I wouldn’t slip and told me not to mention it to his wife," she said.
The next day, his wife went out again, leaving her alone with him. "That morning, he went out briefly and returned around 9 am., after which his wife left without saying where. Later, he called me to a room for cleaning. While I was working, he asked if I wanted juice; I agreed. Then he asked if I wanted alcohol, which I refused. I felt uneasy and didn’t even want the juice after that, but he kept insisting and pressured me to drink it. I finally had the mango juice, though it tasted strangely bitter," she said.
Her voice trembled as she recalled what happened next. "I felt dizzy. He immediately held me, hugged me, and kissed me. I tried to resist, but I was only partially conscious. Somehow, I managed to leave the room and tried to drink some water in the kitchen, but the filter was empty. So, I went to my room and lay down," she said.
She woke up around 12:30 pm., feeling pain and uneasiness in her body. She sensed something had happened but couldn’t remember exactly. After taking a bath, she stepped out of her room.
"When he saw me, he smiled and asked, 'How was it?' I asked him what he meant, and he said 'the juice.' He said he’d mixed 'wine' in it. When I asked him why, he just smiled. I felt dehydrated, hungry, and thirsty. I knew something had happened to me," she said. "He even offered me more money to keep quiet and not tell his wife," she added.
After a long pause she said, "Didi, do I need to explain why I felt something happened when I woke up?" I told her no.
She informed her relative Amit, who worked at a restaurant in Kakkanad, about the incident. He advised her to leave immediately. "I told the couple I needed to visit a relative in Thrissur, but they refused to let me go. The next morning, I contacted my cousin, who works in Perumbavoor. That same day, the couple left with their daughter, locking the house. They tried to lock all the doors, but I convinced them to leave the back door open, saying I needed it to fetch water. They said they’d be back by noon, but they didn’t return," she explained.
That afternoon, her cousin alerted the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID), a nonprofit organisation in Kochi that supports migrant labourers in India. The CMID collaborates with Gram Vikas, a nonprofit based in Odisha, to assist migrant workers.
When volunteers first spoke to her Rani didn't know where she was. A photo that she took through a window helped them identify the place. It was Silver Sand Island in Vyttila with several high-rises and villas.
"I saw a few people, including police officers, outside the house. I was so scared. Later, a female police officer came, and we went to the police station," she recounted. She spent more than a week at a shelter home, where she eventually lost her phone.
She told TNM that she was ready to face the challenges but couldn’t bear the pain of people in her village knowing about the incident. "My uncle’s son said I invited this on myself. He claimed I was enjoying myself here, that I came to Kerala by choice, and now I have to suffer the consequences. I can’t go back, and I feel I’ve lost my family. That is the most painful part for me," she said.
*Name changed to protect identity
Read : Odisha woman drugged & raped at employer’s home in Kochi, police delay arrest of accused