Mumbai: A drunken Salim Khan rapes a 12-year-old mentally challenged girl on a suburban train between Churchgate and Borivilli while seven passengers in the compartment watch in December 2006
Delhi: Four men drag a girl at 2:30 am in a car; gang raped her for almost two and a half hours before dumping her on the road last year
The litany is relentless and gets more frightening day by day. Young women are stalked by fear and-lusty men, in a city like Mumbai, which is considered to be the safest city for women in India. And on the other hand, the capital city of India, reported 541 rape cases in 2006.Chennai is no less. And I was personally shattered to read these statistics. When in 2006, the newspapers and channels were flocked with rape news's, it created a much-required stir in the Delhi police system. If anyone reads metro now here, you should check out their new column- ‘AAJ KA MAJNU’. The Delhi police stationed some of its male and female constables in the north campus. In broad daylight, middle-aged, middle-class men stopped at regular intervals to make unhealthy gestures and invitations. When caught, one of them actually had the cheek to say- I have TB so please excuse me. I am living my last wishes.. Crap!!!!!
The crime analysis, statistics and reports are equally shocking. A "WHO" study revealed that a woman is raped every 35 minutes in India. 85% are raped by men known to them. The Delhi "date" rape case is an example. Out of every 100 rape cases, only 10 are reported and out of 100 accused, only 5 rapists are convicted.
And I don’t know on whom to zero down the blame, The woman, the system , people?? The woman’s silence encourages the rapist to feel that he has not committed any crime. The rest half of the blame goes to the police and law. If a rape victim lodges a complaint, the neighborhood, police and law again and again rape her, not physically but mentally. The thought of this post-rape trauma and pressure of the family often forces the victim to let go of the man who has shattered her physically, mentally and emotionally.
Women till date have never been able to gain freedom in exercising choice in clothes, relationship and social habits. Many of the accused say that sometimes women are to be blamed for they sometimes create situations where a man has no choice. To quote a recent example, in the recent spate of rape cases, the activists of Shiva Sena were reportedly heard saying to a leading national daily that it is the woman who encourages this heinous act. One of them also said that if a girl is seen in short clothes with a cigarette in her hands, a man might not be able to control himself. But how would you justify the rape cases of ghoonghat-clad women in villages?
There’s more to it than meets the eye. Technically and by the law, whenever a rape is reported, a NGO representative should be called for immediate counseling and many helplines should be set up. Section 376 states if a rape is proved, then the accused is to be punished to7 years of imprisonment for raping an adult and 10 years for raping a minor. Recently in the case of the rape of a nurse of a city hospital, after two and a half years of grueling court trials and a marriage proposal from the rapist himself (that to save his neck), he was ordered a lifetime imprisonment. Amazing. Many years ago, a promise from the then deputy prime minister of a death penalty was made but it still remains the same: a promise. If the punishment for the crime comes after 10 years of committing it, there is no learning involved.
Today there is no clear solution to what is a growing social threat. Rape is growing to become a way of expressing man’s dominance and suppressing women. The society needs a complete mental makeover to make them realize that by this attitude of theirs, they are encouraging the most heinous crime, which can one day engulf this one billion nation. The goal should not be to sensitize men but to bring up boys with an attitude to treat women like people and not merely sex objects. I may be sounding cliché ate, but there seems to be no other way to it. There are some problems, which have a twisty road to its solution, and this is one such problem.
Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:41 pm