“For the perpetrator, rape lasts just a matter of minutes. For the victim, it never stops.”
―- Eleven men who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano (she was pregnant then) and the murder of her family members in 2002 were released this week from a jail in Gujarat. A Special Central Bureau of Investigation Court had sentenced the men to life imprisonment in 2008. Their release seems unjust and the subsequent celebration of their release by some is revolting. Not many, however were seen on the roads protesting. Maybe it didn't hit home, it wasn't one of us we thought. We ignored.
- A week before International Women’s Day, a court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, released three men accused of the brutal gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras in September 2020. The court dismissed the rape and murder charges against the three despite the victim naming her assailants in her dying declaration. Significantly, the accused men are powerful upper caste ‘Thakurs’ while the victim belonged to the historically underprivileged Dalit community. A few of us took to the streets, most of us felt, such incidents don't happen to girls from respectable families.
In June 2018, a nun accused priest Franco Mulakkal of rape, alleging that he raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 while visiting a convent in Kerala’s Kottayam district. Three additional women have accused the bishop of sexual misconduct, but the superior general of the congregation insists that the bishop is innocent. Mulakkal’s request for a leave of absence from both his job as Bishop and pastoral duties was accepted by Pope Francis on September 20, 2018. There is no country for women, and that sentence rings loud and clear here.
- On May 27, 2014, two young girls were gang raped and murdered in Katra village, Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh. CBI concluded that there was no gang rape after a long investigation, and the suspects were released. The POCSO court, however, rejected the CBI closure report on October 28, 2015. The next big news overshadowed this trial. No follow up, no marches for justice.
Today the newspapers carried this, I feel ashamed. Not only do we not protest the rape and brutality of minorities in our society, we refuse their solidarity when they extend it to us. Disgrace is the only word that comes to mind.
10 comments:
It is outrageous. Rape is not just forcible intercourse. Rape means to inhabit and destroy everything. The judiciary and the government also has to blame. Accused rich people can get out of it with name brand lawyers. It takes many years to give judgement and then appeal after appeal. In case of death sentence more delays in executing. Take the case of Devender Pal Singh Bhuller. His mercy petition was pending before the President of India for over eight years before it was rejected. The Supreme Court of India ruled that an inordinate delay in deciding a mercy petition is a ground for commutation of a death sentence.
Absolutely, you are right.
The scapegoat is a quick fix guy who will be hanged or killed in encounter, while the top guys involved escape. The rushed and sloganeering calls for immediate justice is actually counter productive to a thorough investigation that is the need of the hour.
Also , unfortunately there has been no call for systemic changes, why is the call for basic rights for women's safety in workspace not being called for? Why no audit on safety checks? A room with a.toilet that can be secured from.inside is not a big ask, it's a basic right. Why are these systems not being put in place at work places? This is just becoming another mud slinging match between political parties.
Our outrage like everything else has its biases. That’s an unfortunate fact. We talk of equality and fraternity which basically means equality within my own fraternity. A long long way to get societal equality for all.
You are right
.it is disgraceful on so many levels.
Very sad incident and my heart bleeds for the family.....
However, I do not see life in comparison and therefore injustice in another case is mutually exclusive to this one as far as I am concerned. I wouldn't raise the question that you didn't protest for the other incident, you shouldn't be doing it for this.
In our a country of a billion people, priority should be in delivering justice to all and if all cannot be achieved at this moment in time the target must be as much as possible.
Act, react, protest ... choose your case, choose your took but use it objectively.
My personal point of view.
You are right when you say life cannot be seen in comparison and ofcourse protest is required, and I am not saying if you didn't protest in those, then you shouldn't be protesting in this particular case. All I am saying is the the protest and the fight by the common people should be inclusive, and we must not forget that work places have never been safe spaces for women across the country. The fight should be against systems and for systemic changes that affect all. For better safety and sanity standards in public places and work spaces. This should be demanded with ferocity and deadlines. Keeping a deadline for an investigation and demanding public hanging at the earliest can lead up to a rushed and botched up investigation.
It has become a fashion in the society to rape girls. Liquors and narcotics rule the minds of men ( of late women also), the very texture of the society has vanished and burglary, pickpocketing and murder have taken its place. An article highlighting a sensitive contemporary issue.
Rape/sexual assault on any gender is one of the most gruesome crimes, and should be necessarily punishable. It saddens me to think we live in a society which makes so much noise when something hits the news, and then just sits back when the headline is sidelines. Justice in such cases should not be up for debate.
But I come back to the same question. What is it that women can do to keep themselves safer. Not stepping out is not the answer. But what is it ?
Rape is more to do with a show of power and domination. Other crimes like burglary not so. Men rape even without the effect of alcohol and drugs and most men who dring and use drugs don't rape. So rape is a crime unto itself where patriarchy and sexual regression play a key role.
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.
Apart from self defence, there's not much a victim can do. Policies need to be put in place to make public spaces women friendly. It should be common to see women out and about after dark, to see them alone in public transport, bus stops, metro stations. This should not be one off, it should be the rule. The people who work in security at such places shd have their backgrounds checked mandatoryily. There should be more women patrol officers and more women public transport riders. The country needs many more women at the fore front to make it safe for the women to reclaim their rightful space.
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