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Women's empowerment by the colour
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My Name is Bhagwati Devi and I am 45 years old. I was inspired by what Sampat Devi was doing for us. She would visit our village regularly and enquire about our well-being. I joined the gang to support her in her cause of making our lives better. .We have no hierarchy in our gang, we are all treated as equals and we act towards a common goal of removing corruption from the roots and bring justice to women. If the gang hears of some atrocities on women, we conduct a gang meeting and discuss what best we can do in the particular case, and take actions accordingly. In many cases, we first try to come to a peaceful solution and if that doesn't work, we use force. The result is 100% successful; people get humiliated after being beaten up by us. My husband abandoned me for a better life with another woman, but I don't care. I have my own life and I am happy with it. The concept of gang is very new in this region, infact gulabi gang is the only gang that exists and one must understand that the gang doesn't always have to be of the anti-social elements. Ours is a team, a team of women in pink. We are growing everyday, and the efforts of Sampat Devi is creating a wave of change here. Women come from far away places with their problems and want to join the gulabi gang...Amidst the gloom of extreme poverty, it's the colour of pink that's calling the shots in this dusty region of Bundelkhand, one of the poorest parts of one of India's northern and most populous states, Uttar Pradesh in India. A gang of vigilantes, called the Gulabi Gang (pink gang) - its 10,000 strong women members wear only pink sarees - is taking up lathi (traditional Indian cudgel) against domestic violence and corruption.