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A review by _askthebookbug
The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro
5.0
• r e c o m m e n d a t i o n •
I finished reading The Good Girls sometime last week but my mind refused to write a review. My immediate feeling was that of shock. Shock from learning the incompetent manner in which the investigation was carried out. But quickly, it shifted to anger; the kind that threatens to erupt at any given moment. Anger that the girls' dignity was stripped off even in their death. For many Indian families 'honour' becomes more precious than their children. Defying honour will lead to only one thing. Death. And this burdenous thing called honour is placed on the heads of daughters, asking them to never drop it no matter what. But men can do as they please, honour or not.
In 2014, two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in UP. Perhaps it was eerie setting in which they were found that the incident went viral on social media. Padma* (16) and Lalli*(14) were two peas in a pod, first cousins and often inseparable. The circumstances and controversy surrounding their death drew the attention of the villagers and the orchard in which they were found ultimately became a tourist sight. Faleiro, carefully dissects the events leading up to the death of the girls and provides a detailed analysis of what went wrong. When villagers noticed the two girls on their phones (which itself was a rare vision), gossip ran freely. Caste system plays a significant role even now, to an extent where honour killings are openly carried out. Where caste differences exist, there lies enmity and suspicion. People are accused for the deaths of the girls before the investigation could even begin. With a barely functional police force and a dilapidated hospital, the case was a significant mess. Lies floated around like moats of dust making it impossible for the truth to come out.
The research that has gone into this book is tremendous and it shows. It's crisp and to the point but Faleiro still manages to make it sentimental. She highlights corruption that very much prevails in our justice system and the rate of crimes against women. What happened to Padma and Lalli will forever remain a mystery; like the death of thousands of other girls.
I finished reading The Good Girls sometime last week but my mind refused to write a review. My immediate feeling was that of shock. Shock from learning the incompetent manner in which the investigation was carried out. But quickly, it shifted to anger; the kind that threatens to erupt at any given moment. Anger that the girls' dignity was stripped off even in their death. For many Indian families 'honour' becomes more precious than their children. Defying honour will lead to only one thing. Death. And this burdenous thing called honour is placed on the heads of daughters, asking them to never drop it no matter what. But men can do as they please, honour or not.
In 2014, two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in UP. Perhaps it was eerie setting in which they were found that the incident went viral on social media. Padma* (16) and Lalli*(14) were two peas in a pod, first cousins and often inseparable. The circumstances and controversy surrounding their death drew the attention of the villagers and the orchard in which they were found ultimately became a tourist sight. Faleiro, carefully dissects the events leading up to the death of the girls and provides a detailed analysis of what went wrong. When villagers noticed the two girls on their phones (which itself was a rare vision), gossip ran freely. Caste system plays a significant role even now, to an extent where honour killings are openly carried out. Where caste differences exist, there lies enmity and suspicion. People are accused for the deaths of the girls before the investigation could even begin. With a barely functional police force and a dilapidated hospital, the case was a significant mess. Lies floated around like moats of dust making it impossible for the truth to come out.
The research that has gone into this book is tremendous and it shows. It's crisp and to the point but Faleiro still manages to make it sentimental. She highlights corruption that very much prevails in our justice system and the rate of crimes against women. What happened to Padma and Lalli will forever remain a mystery; like the death of thousands of other girls.