Phoolan Devi : The Bandit Queen

Phoolan Devi was an Indian Bandit. She was born into a poor family in rural Uttar Pradesh where girls were considered as burdens. She was married off at a very young age to a man named Puttilal Mallah who was three times of her age. She underwent poverty and child marriage. Her marriage was too very abusive. She tolerated beatings and sexual abuse at the hands of her cruel husband. After her several attempts at running away, she was returned to her family in disgrace.

Later on Phoolan's family tried hard by offering gifts to their son-in-law and they finally agreed to take her back. Phoolan's family performed the ceremony of gauna ( after which a married woman begins to cohabit with her husband). She was taken to her husband's house. After few months they became reluctant to keep that 16years little Phoolan any more with them. Later, she joined a gang of Bandits in which she was the only lady. She came into relationship with one gang member and as she belonged from a low caste family, a gunfight caused. In the fight, her lover died. The Rajputs who were rivals took her to their village of Behmai. They confined her in a room and took turns of rape her repeatedly over several weeks.

Her act of revenge

The Behmai massacre was portrayed by the press as an act of righteous rebellion. In revenge of her own gang rape, 22 Rajput men belonging to that village were lined up in a row and shot dead by Phoolan's gang. She was charged with 48 crimes which included multiple murders, pillage, arson, and kidnapping for ransom. She evaded capture for two years after Behmai massacre. Later, she was imprisoned for next 11years. In 1994, the state government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samahwadi Party withdrew all charges against her and she was released. She stood for election to parliament as a candidate of Samajwadi Party. She was elected twice to the Lok sabha as the member for Mirzapur.

Her death

She was shot dead at the gates of her official bungalow (alloted to her as MP) in New Delhi by former rival bandits whose kinsmen has been slaughtered at Behmai by her gang .

The 1994 film Bandit Queen is based on her life as covered in the book India's Bandit Queen : The True Story of Phoolan Devi by the Indian author Mala Seen.