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13 Men
When 20 year-old Baby returns from Delhi to West Bengal to care for her ailing mother, the people in her village shun her. Her accent is cosmopolitan, her clothes are too revealing, and "she behaves like she has money now," whisper her fellow Santhals, members of one of India's most insular and historically persecuted tribes. But when Baby falls in love with Khaleque, an outsider and a Muslim, rural gossip explodes into shocking violence, and Baby faces a moment beyond anyone's worst fears. Brutally gang-raped by 13 villagers as punishment for loving the wrong man, Baby has nowhere to turn. Her neighbours deny that the crime happened, and Santhal activists, hardened from centuries of repression, rush to her attackers' defence. With her story suddenly on front pages across India, Baby's search for justice comes into terrible conflict with the fate of her people, sparking a tense fight over the tribal right to self-govern in the world's largest democracy.
With 13 Men, journalist Sonia Faleiro, author of the bestseller Beautiful Thing: Inside The Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars, has written a 21st-century, international heir to In Cold Blood--at once a shocking reconstruction of how an isolated village took brutal revenge on one of its own, and a hard look at the scourge of rape in India. Despite a string of high-profile crimes igniting a national conversation in India about violence against women, reports of rape enrage the public and are then forgotten. Just as Baby's case slipped out of the news, Faleiro travelled to West Bengal, where she conducted dozens of interviews with villagers, politicians, lawyers, activists, and the victim herself. Elegantly written and fearlessly reported, 13 Men investigates one of India's most shocking crimes, taking readers deep into one besieged tribal community in a heart-wrenching, moment-by-moment account of the crime and its aftermath.
With 13 Men, journalist Sonia Faleiro, author of the bestseller Beautiful Thing: Inside The Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars, has written a 21st-century, international heir to In Cold Blood--at once a shocking reconstruction of how an isolated village took brutal revenge on one of its own, and a hard look at the scourge of rape in India. Despite a string of high-profile crimes igniting a national conversation in India about violence against women, reports of rape enrage the public and are then forgotten. Just as Baby's case slipped out of the news, Faleiro travelled to West Bengal, where she conducted dozens of interviews with villagers, politicians, lawyers, activists, and the victim herself. Elegantly written and fearlessly reported, 13 Men investigates one of India's most shocking crimes, taking readers deep into one besieged tribal community in a heart-wrenching, moment-by-moment account of the crime and its aftermath.
- GenresNonfictionIndia
69 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2015
10 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Sonia Faleiro
11 books181 followersSonia Faleiro is the author of Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars and a novella, The Girl. Her new book, The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing will be published in 2021.
The New York Times hailed Beautiful Thing as ‘an intimate and valuable piece of reportage that will break your heart several times over.’ The book was an Observer, Guardian, and Economist Book of the Year, Time Out Subcontinental Book of the Year, CNN Mumbai Book of the Year, and The Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year, 2011. It has been published worldwide and translated into several languages.
She is the co-founder of Deca, a global cooperative of award-winning journalists. Her writing has received support from the Pulitzer Centre and The Investigative Fund, and appears in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Harper's, Granta, 1843, The California Sunday Magazine, and MIT Technology Review.
She lives in London and is represented by The Wylie Agency.
The New York Times hailed Beautiful Thing as ‘an intimate and valuable piece of reportage that will break your heart several times over.’ The book was an Observer, Guardian, and Economist Book of the Year, Time Out Subcontinental Book of the Year, CNN Mumbai Book of the Year, and The Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year, 2011. It has been published worldwide and translated into several languages.
She is the co-founder of Deca, a global cooperative of award-winning journalists. Her writing has received support from the Pulitzer Centre and The Investigative Fund, and appears in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Harper's, Granta, 1843, The California Sunday Magazine, and MIT Technology Review.
She lives in London and is represented by The Wylie Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 28, 2015
I was looking forward to reading this, yet I was terrified of reading it. Turns out I shouldn't have been.
This single tells the story of Baby, a young woman who was allegedly raped by 13 men in an Indian village as punishment for... "loving the wrong man," according to the description. I would add, loving a married man? Loving a Muslim? Having sex without being married? Being "rich" in a village of fairly poor people?
Turns out, the story isn't quite so black and white. Is it ever, really?
This short book gets into a bunch of issues - issues about women's standing in India, issues of culture and comparison within Indian society, and - something I wasn't expecting - the big issue of being a tribal community in a country where you're seen as less than, where your rights are being trampled by people and companies trying to exploit the land and the people.
No, definitely not black and white.
Unfortunately, I thought the story a bit lacking. I didn't connect with Baby, the main character, or any of the other people, on an emotional level. It felt like a removed, intellectual distance that the author kept from everyone. I think I can understand why she maybe tried to do that - you first want to take Baby's side right away (as did tons of national and international media) but as you learn more you realize it's not so simple. And maybe Faleiro tried to keep that distance because she didn't want to side with any particular person, to show those shades of grey. But for me, this made the writing feel a little flat.
Nonetheless, I'm glad to have read this story and will be looking to learn more, not just about this incident, but about the broader issues that were raised in this (too short!) single.
This single tells the story of Baby, a young woman who was allegedly raped by 13 men in an Indian village as punishment for... "loving the wrong man," according to the description. I would add, loving a married man? Loving a Muslim? Having sex without being married? Being "rich" in a village of fairly poor people?
Turns out, the story isn't quite so black and white. Is it ever, really?
This short book gets into a bunch of issues - issues about women's standing in India, issues of culture and comparison within Indian society, and - something I wasn't expecting - the big issue of being a tribal community in a country where you're seen as less than, where your rights are being trampled by people and companies trying to exploit the land and the people.
No, definitely not black and white.
Unfortunately, I thought the story a bit lacking. I didn't connect with Baby, the main character, or any of the other people, on an emotional level. It felt like a removed, intellectual distance that the author kept from everyone. I think I can understand why she maybe tried to do that - you first want to take Baby's side right away (as did tons of national and international media) but as you learn more you realize it's not so simple. And maybe Faleiro tried to keep that distance because she didn't want to side with any particular person, to show those shades of grey. But for me, this made the writing feel a little flat.
Nonetheless, I'm glad to have read this story and will be looking to learn more, not just about this incident, but about the broader issues that were raised in this (too short!) single.
March 30, 2022
In this short book, Sona Faleiro shows exactly why she is considered one of the masters of her craft.
The incident described is simple. A young girl from an adivasi community returns to her village after working in the city for a few years. She is young, attractive and sassy, and takes on a married lover from another community. The couple is caught and she is allegedly gang raped by the men of her tribe. Unlike other victims, she goes to the police and her complaint is lodged.
This is the kind of incident that is not uncommon in India. It could be ignored completely. Or it may temporarily capture public imagination before dying out. Or, Sonia Faleiro could choose to cover it. When that happens, what you get is multiple perspectives, with the truth lying somewhere between all of them. What makes this telling amazing is that the author does not attempt to tell you what actually happened. She gives you all the versions, highlights the facts, and leaves you to sift through the rest to reach your own conclusions. There are gaps in all the narratives, some of which could be through a desire to obscure facts and push a particular narrative, but some of which could be because people have genuinely confused what actually happened with what actually happened.
Master storytelling. Definitely worth reading.
The incident described is simple. A young girl from an adivasi community returns to her village after working in the city for a few years. She is young, attractive and sassy, and takes on a married lover from another community. The couple is caught and she is allegedly gang raped by the men of her tribe. Unlike other victims, she goes to the police and her complaint is lodged.
This is the kind of incident that is not uncommon in India. It could be ignored completely. Or it may temporarily capture public imagination before dying out. Or, Sonia Faleiro could choose to cover it. When that happens, what you get is multiple perspectives, with the truth lying somewhere between all of them. What makes this telling amazing is that the author does not attempt to tell you what actually happened. She gives you all the versions, highlights the facts, and leaves you to sift through the rest to reach your own conclusions. There are gaps in all the narratives, some of which could be through a desire to obscure facts and push a particular narrative, but some of which could be because people have genuinely confused what actually happened with what actually happened.
Master storytelling. Definitely worth reading.
March 8, 2015
In 13 Men, Sonia Faleiro provides her intriguing investigative reportage about a 20-year-old Santhal tribal girl's gang rape. The story has many sides. It tells about the affair between a married muslim man and a young tribal girl and how politicians and businessmen exploit the tribals for their own greed. The Santhal villagers argue that the young girl is lying and is in collusion with the politicians who have already given her free land and money. There is no forensic evidence of the rape, but the men are quickly sentenced due to the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape case.
The author blends various facts together to give us a great piece of true story which should be read by a wider audience (it's only available on kindle as of now). The writing is not as great as in 'Beautiful Thing' but I always look forward to reading anything written by Sonia Faleiro.
The author blends various facts together to give us a great piece of true story which should be read by a wider audience (it's only available on kindle as of now). The writing is not as great as in 'Beautiful Thing' but I always look forward to reading anything written by Sonia Faleiro.
May 2, 2015
I read the book 13 Men on the flight from Mandalay to Bangkok. It was a short read, but it impacted me immensely and put me in a state of mental turmoil.
The book is a form of investigative reporting on the alleged gang rape of a tribal, Santhal girl by 13 persons in a remote village called Subalpur in West Bengal. The 20-year old girl called "Baby" in the narration is an illiterate who has lived for a short time in Delhi and wants to live life on her terms. The conservative tribal residents of the village also cannot accept that Baby is in an open relationship with Khaleque, who is not just an outsider but also a Muslim (we see such bigotry not just in tribal villages but also in "civilized" urban communities).
Baby and Khaleque are dragged out of her home and tied up around a tree pending a Village Council meeting alleging adulterous relationship. On the night before the council meeting, Baby is allegedly raped by 13 persons of the village on the direction of the village head. As you read this part, you feel an outrage and instantly condemn the alleged rapists as illiterate savages. Egged on by the local politicians, the police arrest all the 13 men on charges of kidnapping, illegal restraint, rape and a few more offenses. But the matter appears to be not so black and white.
No forensic evidence is available tying the accused with the crime. Baby's description of the crime and the physical evidence do not blend well in many areas. Tribal rights protection activists are not at all convinced and suspect that there is a larger conspiracy involved aimed to undermine tribal rights. Baby, many felt, was simply caught in a larger web of deceit. Meanwhile, the court finds the 13 men guilty of rape, among other things and sentence them to 20 years of imprisonment - in spite of lack of credible forensic evidence.
As I read the book, I felt buffeted from one end of thought to the other. On one end is the real possibility that a hapless young girl was indeed brutally raped by the 13 persons. On the other end is the possibility that the entire episode is a well-planned conspiracy from the political-industrial network to undermine tribal rights. There are numerous perspectives. But a few things are clear. Tribal communities have always been exploited and their rights trampled upon. We have all seen how powerful and persistent the political-industrial nexus can be when a pot of gold is visible at the end of a rainbow or just about anywhere.
As I read the book, finished it, and waited for my flight to land, I felt a myriad of emotions - sadness, anger, empathy, helplessness, and murderous rage! Sonia Faleiro has done tremendous amounts of research and must be commended for presenting the various perspectives without blatantly imposing her own views, if any. The episode narrated in the book is almost a surreal recreation of an environment similar to one found in "The Night of January 16th" by Ayn Rand where one had to follow multiple perspectives and perhaps reconcile with one's own perspective. But unlike Ayn Rand's book, this is a narrative of a real trauma of a young girl on the one hand and of a relentless suppression of tribal rights on the other hand. Looked either way, humanity in India is the loser!
Get a copy of the book and read it!
The book is a form of investigative reporting on the alleged gang rape of a tribal, Santhal girl by 13 persons in a remote village called Subalpur in West Bengal. The 20-year old girl called "Baby" in the narration is an illiterate who has lived for a short time in Delhi and wants to live life on her terms. The conservative tribal residents of the village also cannot accept that Baby is in an open relationship with Khaleque, who is not just an outsider but also a Muslim (we see such bigotry not just in tribal villages but also in "civilized" urban communities).
Baby and Khaleque are dragged out of her home and tied up around a tree pending a Village Council meeting alleging adulterous relationship. On the night before the council meeting, Baby is allegedly raped by 13 persons of the village on the direction of the village head. As you read this part, you feel an outrage and instantly condemn the alleged rapists as illiterate savages. Egged on by the local politicians, the police arrest all the 13 men on charges of kidnapping, illegal restraint, rape and a few more offenses. But the matter appears to be not so black and white.
No forensic evidence is available tying the accused with the crime. Baby's description of the crime and the physical evidence do not blend well in many areas. Tribal rights protection activists are not at all convinced and suspect that there is a larger conspiracy involved aimed to undermine tribal rights. Baby, many felt, was simply caught in a larger web of deceit. Meanwhile, the court finds the 13 men guilty of rape, among other things and sentence them to 20 years of imprisonment - in spite of lack of credible forensic evidence.
As I read the book, I felt buffeted from one end of thought to the other. On one end is the real possibility that a hapless young girl was indeed brutally raped by the 13 persons. On the other end is the possibility that the entire episode is a well-planned conspiracy from the political-industrial network to undermine tribal rights. There are numerous perspectives. But a few things are clear. Tribal communities have always been exploited and their rights trampled upon. We have all seen how powerful and persistent the political-industrial nexus can be when a pot of gold is visible at the end of a rainbow or just about anywhere.
As I read the book, finished it, and waited for my flight to land, I felt a myriad of emotions - sadness, anger, empathy, helplessness, and murderous rage! Sonia Faleiro has done tremendous amounts of research and must be commended for presenting the various perspectives without blatantly imposing her own views, if any. The episode narrated in the book is almost a surreal recreation of an environment similar to one found in "The Night of January 16th" by Ayn Rand where one had to follow multiple perspectives and perhaps reconcile with one's own perspective. But unlike Ayn Rand's book, this is a narrative of a real trauma of a young girl on the one hand and of a relentless suppression of tribal rights on the other hand. Looked either way, humanity in India is the loser!
Get a copy of the book and read it!
February 27, 2015
Stunning, chilling, devastating. No words. Essential read.
March 1, 2015
Naturally I loved it.
February 24, 2026
Sonia Faleiro refuses to take sides in the narrative, and doesn't give a clear 'judgement', which makes this an uncomfortable, if honest read.
May 21, 2017
It was pretty freakin good, although it would seem that Sonia Faleiro's biases are clear within the storytelling of a true event.
May 18, 2019
Aside from the book, I have developed a deep respect for Sonia Faleiros bravery in visiting and interviewing the protagonists mentioned in this book - it cannot have been easy. The book is rather short, but Sonia manages the difficult task of first confirming our predjudices, and then destroying them with facts. I do not want to give too much away, but I came away from the book no longer knowing what or whom to believe......
January 4, 2017
Takes an in-depth look at a gang-rape case in India
Readers wishing to get a better understanding of the rape situation in the populous nation of India can learn much from this detailed case study. The first half of the book does an effective job of unspooling the events and examining the principals of a 2014 rape in a rural West Bengal town. The author uses her impressive writing skills to carefully develop the story. The second half of the book goes into the courtroom, and my interest level dropped off. Legal proceedings, political maneuvering, etc. -- more like a routine magazine article than well written nonfiction.
Readers wishing to get a better understanding of the rape situation in the populous nation of India can learn much from this detailed case study. The first half of the book does an effective job of unspooling the events and examining the principals of a 2014 rape in a rural West Bengal town. The author uses her impressive writing skills to carefully develop the story. The second half of the book goes into the courtroom, and my interest level dropped off. Legal proceedings, political maneuvering, etc. -- more like a routine magazine article than well written nonfiction.
March 13, 2015
I read the review of the e-book in Mint. It is many stories in one. It is a complex story of a tribal woman trying to break free the shackles that hold her back and the tribe that sacrifices individual freedom for greater benefit and security of the their tribe. It is the story of nexus between politicians and corporates. In way it is also the story of the yawning gap between haves and have-nots.A good read.
March 29, 2015
Interesting. I would like to hear more about this, how the case is progressing.
There was so much new information (for me) in this short book. I knew nothing about the tribal peoples of India, didn't even know they existed, much less their problems! There are strong similarities to how Native Americans are treated here in the US.
There was so much new information (for me) in this short book. I knew nothing about the tribal peoples of India, didn't even know they existed, much less their problems! There are strong similarities to how Native Americans are treated here in the US.
March 4, 2015
Still a good article/short story. My rating is not at all a comment on the quality. The content did not make the point I think it was trying to. Or it made a point at odds with what else the author wrote.
Deca is still necessary. For sure.
Deca is still necessary. For sure.
March 15, 2015
Extremely balanced and well-reported. An eye-opening read.
December 6, 2016
A journalist tries to understand and explain the story of a gang rape in tribal India area.
A bit "dry" but very interesting.
A bit "dry" but very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews