New Delhi, August 9: On February 12, 1983, a 20-year-old woman made headlines in Bhind district, Madhya Pradesh. In front of a large crowd and armed police, she surrendered, placing her weapons alongside images of Goddess Durga and Mahatma Gandhi. This young woman, dressed in a khaki uniform with a red shawl and a red band on her forehead, was none other than Phoolan Devi, famously known as the ‘Bandit Queen.’
Phoolan Devi was born on August 10, 1963, in Gorha Ka Purwa village, Jalaun district, Uttar Pradesh. Born into a very poor Nishad family, her father, Devideen, lost their land to her uncle and cousin after they bribed the village head. Phoolan’s fight against injustice began at the tender age of 10 when she opposed local bullies to protect her family’s land and a neem tree, resulting in a brutal beating.
Due to poverty and societal pressure, she was married at just 11 to a man named Puttilal, who was three times her age. After enduring physical, mental, and sexual abuse in her in-laws’ home, she rejected the marriage and returned to her parents.
In 1979, after repeated harassment by police and local goons, Phoolan was kidnapped by Babu Gujjar’s gang. During her captivity, she was repeatedly raped. Vikram Mallah, a member of the gang, opposed this brutality, killed Babu Gujjar, and offered her protection. Vikram taught her how to wield a rifle, and their bond grew as they began robbing upper-caste villages in support of the oppressed. However, their peace was short-lived.
It is said that upper-caste bandits, Shree Ram and Lala Ram, killed Vikram Mallah in a power struggle and took Phoolan hostage to Behmai village, where she endured days of captivity and gang rape.
After escaping her captors, Phoolan formed her own gang. On February 14, 1981, she returned to Behmai with her gang and executed over 20 Thakur men in a line-up. This incident, known as the ‘Behmai Massacre,’ transformed her into a ‘Robin Hood’ figure and a symbol of resistance for the oppressed and lower castes overnight.
In 1983, Phoolan surrendered and spent 11 years in Gwalior and Jabalpur prisons without trial. She was released in 1994 and chose a democratic path upon her release.
Phoolan founded the ‘Ekalavya Sena’ to teach self-defense to women and marginalized communities. Hurt by the caste discrimination prevalent in Hinduism, she converted to Buddhism on February 15, 1995, at the historic Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur.
In 1996, she won a seat in the Indian Parliament from Mirzapur. She also authored her autobiography, ‘I, Phoolan Devi,’ which gained international acclaim. However, she vehemently opposed Shekhar Kapur’s film ‘Bandit Queen,’ with writer Arundhati Roy accusing the film of commercializing her pain. Tragically, on July 25, 2001, Phoolan Devi was brutally murdered outside her residence in New Delhi by Sher Singh Rana and his accomplices.
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