She must have laughed, chuckled, cracked jokes and played pranks. She
must have partied and celebrated with smiles and loved ones. She must have also
sobbed and cried. But all these elements that make life, finally decided to
betray her when ‘we’ raped her. In this article, I talk about the different
elements of this recent event, alluding to a few reports that have appeared in
the media. Also, this aims at sensitizing people towards an unacceptable evil.
The protests...
Misplaced protests are at the heart of Indian democracy. While the
intentions may be clearly noble, the kind of protests will fail to evoke any
meaningful response. We live in an age of information. As youth, instead of
just using our vocal cord to increase decibel levels, we should aim at
providing effective ideas to the lawmakers and the judiciary so that we can be
more effective as a society. Most of the protests that I saw were generated out
of anger, which while completely understandable ignore the ‘solution’. Just
saying “The accused should be punished at the earliest and given death
penalty’’ is not the answer. One placard read “Pornography is a fantasy but
Rape is a reality” – How in the world does that even make sense! That said, I
have been involved myself with the protests, be it the demand for the Jan
Lokpal or against these heinous crime of rapes. While we had effective points to
be included in the Jan lokpal bill, I have some suggestions for effectively
checking the incidents of rape which I have written at length in this article,
as suggestion to the Justice Verma committee on improving safety and security
of women.
...and when it drew the first blood
Our protests to obtain justice for that lady took away the life of a constable,
and effectively, with that, that of his family, he being the only bread earner.
Even if we take into consideration that the police were first to go against the
mob, nothing justifies the death of the policeman. When asked around the many
that got injured during the protests (and not in respect to the death of the policeman,
just to be clear), the police commissioner was quick to suggest that ‘collateral
damages’ do occur as a part of such protests. “Collateral damage” is a term for
the war zone. A police is placed
precisely to prevent collateral damage. The inefficient police commissioner
clearly read his police manuals wrong – so believes Dipankar Gupta who is one
of the most well-known sociologists in the country.
The King with folded hands and a script
The Prime minister finally decided a few days later that the Nation
demanded from him an act of article reading. Perhaps he misinterpreted the intentions.
His miniature script included reading from a piece of paper and then (thanks to
ANI) after reading , he remarked “theek hai?” (clearly for the press but the
press people forgot to edit the last bit). This clearly shows how manual his response and feelings are. We
wanted him to stand with us, in our cause to build a nation secure for all of
us, including the three daughters that he has. He has failed us, yet again. As
a joke circulated suggested , he perhaps does not even open his mouth before
the dentist. He should take leadership lessons from President Obama and study
how the President tirelessly worked for the people during hurricane Sandy (so
much so that New Jersey’s Republican governor was all praises for him) or how he personally met the families of the
recent gun
The Solution
That’s the email address where you can send in your suggestions for an
effective law to be implemented. I have written to Mr. Verma suggesting a few
changes and inclusion, alluding to a few instances I could recall. I would
encourage all of you to please write in as well.
1. Provide statutorily mandated allocation of more budget
to forensic sciences and establish more medical schools with good
infrastructure so that such cases can be investigated into with utmost urgency.
2. Fast track the proceedings of such
cases (and the above solution with aide this) and justice be meted out within
60 days or depending upon the complexity of the case, to an utmost of 90 days.
( A girl was raped and killed 2 years ago in Kerala in a moving train’s lady’s compartment
and her family has not received any justice as yet.)
3. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code
that defines rape should be broadened to include both male and female rapes and
include the rape through insertion of foreign objects (clearly accounting for ‘kisses’
and the likes to have different level of punishment under ‘molestation’).
Include marital rape into purview as well(the law commission rejected
considering forced sex with the wife as ‘rape’). In essence, any non-consensual
sex should be included.
4. ‘Finger test’ should be done away with at the
EARLIEST! In rape cases, when a woman goes to the police to file a
complaint against rape, she undergoes a finger test, wherein a finger is
inserted into the female’s primary reproductive part to ascertain whether she
is habituated to sex. This is ridiculous! This is degrading, irrelevant and
shameful!(The US and the UK have protocols on how the doctors should examine
these cases and are observed nationwide).
5. Laws should have a provision so that there is no allusion
to a woman’s past sexual history as a means to justify such act. Many
a times past reference are used as a means to justify acts of rape or to diminish
the severity of the crime.
6. Improve the policing specially at
night. Install ‘functioning’ CCTV cameras in public transports and at crossroads
duly monitored 24 x 7.
7. Social audits of the Police and Judiciary
so that there is regular check-ins of the performance and provide for actions
and rewards that are commensurate with their performance.
8. Death penalty for the people found ‘scientifically’
guilty with adequate evidences suggesting a rape irrespective of it
fitting under the ‘rarest of rare’ category. Should not rape itself be a ‘rare’
act! Also, in case of wrong allegations, the girl should be harshly punished on
the same pretext of ruining a person’s life.
9. Inform and educate kids at elementary school level
about the harsh realities of rape, so as to sensitize the future generations on
what are the consequences of such an act.
10. Enforce with conviction the laws to remove the
tinted glasses used in the cars (the laws while has been in place
since the 90s , rich and mighty easily get away with these). All India
conviction rate is dismally low at 26%.
11. Bar people alleged of rapes from contesting
election. The National Election Watch
has revealed that in the last 5 years, 6 people have contested Lok sabha
elections , 27 others have contested Vidhan Sabha elections after declaring
themselves that they were charged of rape.
While the above is for Justice Verma to ponder upon, there are a few
suggestions for my friends
Girls
We have betrayed you and no amount of apology will even come near
sufficing. However unfortunate it may be, you have to take care of yourselves.
Simple steps can go a long way in making life easier for you and your family.
- Check that the doors are locked when you sit in your car
- Carry a pepper spray and keep it very accessible to you
- Do not board shared cabs , specially where you are likely to be the only female
- Trust your boy-friends, but not blindly (there happened a case in Delhi where the boy let a policeman rape his own gf )
- Learn self-defense mechanisms
Boys
Get up and yes, Grow up. As one placard suggested “skirt se unchi, soch
hai”.
The moral and legal debate around this subject can be endless. What we
need to do as a society is profound and clear. Let us teach ourselves the
lessons that we have learnt out of these happenings and perhaps then, our moral
Dharma will take care of inefficient laws and their substandard implementation. Let us not be the Dhritarashtras of the world, who sits taking pleasure when Draupadi was being robbed of her chastity. Let us be the divine lights that did not let her lose her honour.
