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Women's empowerment by the colour
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Sampath Pal Devi, 52 commander of the Pink Gang, poses for a photograph in Village of District Banda in Uttar Pradesh, India. This band of vigilantes, called the Gulabi Gang (pink gang) - its 10,000 strong women memberswear only pink sarees - is taking up cudgels against domestic violence and corruption...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. ..The 47-year-old leader of the Pink Gang, Sampat Pal Devi is a fiesty woman. The barely educated, impoverished mother of five, Sampat Pal Devi has emerged as a messianic figure in the region. Sampath Devi began to work as a government health worker, but she quit soon after because her job was not satisfying enough. She always wanted to work for the poor and not for herself. Taking up issues while being a government worker was difficult, so she decided to quit the job and work for the rights of people.