Help a family break the cycle of abuse

Hi, my name is Rashmi and I am raising money to help a family in crisis.

In September 2019, while in the pediatric ER with her very unwell infant and unable to walk because she was recovering from ankle surgery, Ramya’s now ex-husband walked out on his family, because he did not like the doctors’ approach to saving his child’s life. He yelled at doctors, called Ramya names, and just walked out, never to return. He had previously seriously tried to harm both the child, Matsya and Ramya. After he walked out, Ramya began to build her life back up again, with Matsya at its center.

Until March 2023, Matsya and Ramya lived a relatively happy life. Despite this history of domestic abuse and violence, Ramya managed to break that cycle, divorce her (now ex)-husband, complete her PhD, and secure a tenure-track job at a university in the US, all while raising a child (Matsya) all on her own, with little financial support from her ex-husband who had since moved back to India where he currently lives. As part of the divorce, Ramya was awarded sole legal and physical custody of the child and the father could do supervised visits, which he never did.

Instead, he zoomed with Matsya for four years because he did not want to be supervised and underpaid child support, claiming he was too poor to support his child. Having moved to India, there is no way to hold him financially accountable.

In March 2023, despite having never visited in person, Ramya’s ex-husband resurfaced from India, claiming to want to meet their child and has initiated multiple legal actions. Thanks to a broken legal system, he was allowed to meet their child unsupervised and he proceeded to traumatize and scar the minor child with his toxicity and lies. He routinely got physical with Ramya and her family, in front of the child, during these visits, thus scaring Matsya who has routine nightmares about these incidents. Ramya and Matsya were unprepared for the emotional and financial toll of this. She is fighting the legal battle on all fronts to keep Matsya safe.

Ramya is currently buried under a mountain of litigation and debt, slowly digging herself and her child out, trying to secure more safeguards for her minor child. The costs of this litigation are very high and Ramya is a single parent and academic who alone cannot shoulder this responsibility.

Please help me save a happy family and secure their future by donating to my campaign to partially defray their legal fees.