Buenos Aires, November 16 (NA) -- Seema Parihar, known as "the bandit," is a leader who, before entering politics in India, was a criminal who killed 70 people, kidnapped 200 more, and looted 30 houses. Born on January 1, 1970, in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, into a humble family, Parihar stated that her role model was Phoolan Devi, known as the "Bandit Queen," who was also a bandit before turning to politics. In 1983, at the age of 13, she was kidnapped from her native village of Bawine, in Uttar Pradesh, by bandits Lala Ram and Kusuma Nian, and it was then that she herself became a criminal. In 1986, she married bandit Nirbhay Singh Gujjar, but later returned to Lala Ram before becoming the leader of his gang. As the head of her criminal group, she engaged in looting, kidnapping, and murder in the regions around the Bihand forest and the Chambal river. In this context, she killed 70 people, kidnapped 200, and looted 30 houses until June 2000, when after 18 years of criminal activity, she surrendered to the Uttar Pradesh Police. Parihar was imprisoned and faced 29 charges against her, including eight for homicide and six for kidnapping. In August 2001, while in custody, she revealed she had received offers from political parties, and in the 2002 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, she supported Shiv Sena. In November 2006, she joined the Justice Party of India and ran as its candidate for the 2007 by-elections to the Mirzapur-Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency, all while in prison. In January 2008, she joined the Lok Janshakti Party, and in October of that same year, she switched to the Samajwadi Party. In October of the same year, she was acquitted of 15 of the criminal cases against her and was out on bail for the remaining 14. In 2011, Parihar was named head of the women's wing of the National Council for the Eradication of Corruption. This criminal turned political figure became a pop culture icon and starred in the film "Wounded-The Bandit Queen," the first Indian film in which a "bandit queen" portrayed her own real-life story on screen. The film was shot in the Chambal valley, premiered in 2006, and won the Critics' Award at the Leicester Expo Bollywood film festival (UK) in 2005. In 2010, Parihar also participated in the fourth season of the Indian reality show "Bigg Boss" and was evicted from the house on day 76 (week 11).
