Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh): Between the borders of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, lies a village named Harijanpur in Chitrakoot district.
Like any other village, it has dusty roads, broken path-ways and small huts. However, there is one thing about Chitrakoot which makes it extra-ordinary and different from others when an illiterate housewife named RamLali emerged as the ‘Tigress of Patha’ after she valiantly challenged dacoits by brandishing a sickle.
The incident goes back to May 17 on 2002 when dacoits kidnapped a 24-year-old son of Jagannath Tiwari, a bank manager and brought him to Harijanpur.
While narrating her story to ETV Bharat, Ramlali said, "The youth came running to my hut escaping from the clutches of dacoits. He started crying and begging for help. He was scared and was trembling with fear. I was unarmed but still decided not to hand him over to the miscreants. I mobilised women from my village to fight against them''.
"Within no time, around 25 to 30 armed bandits attacked my hut and demanded the custody of the kidnapped youth. I had one sickle in my hand but I showed courage and jumped in front of the dacoits. Seeing me, other women also gathered strength and started stone pelting on the bandits forcing them to flee," said Lali.
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Ramlali and her husband went to the Manikpur police station and narrated the incident.
Following this, Lali's husband was abducted by the dacoits when they came to know that a complaint was registered against them. But Lali chose not to give up. After handing over the kidnapped youth to his family, the police undertook a combing operation and rescued Ramlali’s husband from the bandits.
This incident changed Ramlali's life and she was named 'Tigress of Patha'. She captured the attention of the media and her name dominated the headlines of the newspapers. On December 6, 2001 the District Collector Jagannath felicitated Ramlali by presenting her a licensed gun.
On the occasion of International Women's Day in the year 2002, Uttar Pradesh governor invited Lali and felicitated her for her bravery. RamLali's door proudly bears the sign ‘Patha ki Sherni’.
Lali has become old now but she bears no sign of weakness. Her courage is still the same and her fighting spirit inspires women to look up to her as their role model. Every girl in Chitrakoot village now wants to become ‘Tigress of Patha’.
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