Light in a world of darkness: Devi & Deepali's stories are both remarkable

URJA's main aim is to offer a life with dignity to battered, bruised and beaten women when all other avenues are closed

By the time she was 24, Devi had lived more than most do in an entire lifetime. Born in a Brahmin upper-class family in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, fair and beautiful, 16-year-old Devi fell in love with a young 19-year-old Hindu boy from a lower caste who visited her home for odd jobs regularly. She eloped with him and landed up in Surat. 

Her family – her father was the pujari of the village – chose to take revenge from the boy's family. They had them beaten mercilessly and the boy's sister was molested. Faced with daily threats