The horrific and brutal rape of a 23 year old physiotherapy student in the national capital caused a stir. A stir that was seen all across the nation, which enraged people enough to seek a quick justice to the culprits and a world-class treatment. Well, the quick justice came around 2 years later, in 2014.
Newspapers and news channels are full of mishaps of rapes from all across the nation, there are innumerable to be listed here. West Bengal rape case, Sikar rape of a minor, Mumbai twin rape cases, Badaun rape case, rape case of a minor by teacher, Meerut rape and religion conversion are some that top our minds, making the top breaking news in India. There are several others where females of any age between 3 and 89 years are raped and dumped to die. There are several molestation cases being reported everyday. There are several acid attacks. There are several cases of girl kidnappings.
Yet there are several that go unreported, unattended, there still are some people who have accepted such incidences as part of their daily lives. There hardly ever hit the news, being a part of headlines in India is not even expected.
Then there are some who term these incidents not a major incident, some say this is because of chowmien, some say it happens because of scantily clad women though the incidences are reported about women who have been dressed in the most traditional Indian attires, some have rebuked women from pubs and bars, though the 6 year old school girl had never seen a bar till date. Some say its munni bandam hui or fevicol se or similar item numbers that arouse men to rape, wonder why these numbers fail to arouse women to have sex!
Sexual offences are now considered to be a common phenomenon, a part of our nation’s anatomy now. India news in Hindi and English and several other regional languages have been reporting about such incidences, however, these hardly come to notice now. And no, we are not merely talking rapes that are reported, the total number of reported rapes is way less than the actual figures of sexual assault. Here, we are counting eve-teasing, which Indian men consider to be their right, molestation, child sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence, marital rape.
The recent reports have claimed that incidences of rapes have increased by many times. We get to know that in every 25 minutes is a woman raped in India. Going back to the year 2004-2005, National Crime Records Bureau, there were 318 women raped in Delhi, while in the year 2005 there were 600 rapes reported. NCRB also says that the bureau had tried around 18,100 for the charges of rape in the year 2003. India news in Hindi informs that there has also been a survey of all the girls of a single school in New Delhi, which said that of the total surveyed, 63% had faced sexual abuse during childhood by someone from their family. “Nearly one-third of the girls said the perpetrator had been a father, grandfather or male friend of the family.”
Didn’t we hear India as being the upcoming global power? Here we wonder how well does globalization of human rights compare with globalization of economic issues!
Breaking online news in India was when Nirbhaya died of the injuries she was left with after being raped; several don’t have the courage to report of rape or abuse because our society fails to accept the victim as a regular part of society, the families are ridiculed. The police also deters from registering the case, wherein quite a few victims of sexual assault say that the police suggests them not to register the complaint, some policemen are known to rape or sexually abuse. Long wait in the police stations, humiliating questions by the male police men in the absence of female police … aren’t we talking indirectly talking of the people in power backing them up? How do we sum up the frustration of a victim the trial of which goes on for years?
The trauma does not leave the victim after several years. Headlines in a particular part of India were hit by a case reported of a child pushed to epilepsy after being raped and severely assaulted by her neighbour. The culprit was arrested, and thus the court said justice was delivered. What happens to the girl 5 years down the lane? The girl is still epileptic. Justice delivered, you say?
Our law makers have now become the most toxic part of our nation. The women now need to get out of their cocoons to bring about a change. The very minute differentiation between the two genders needs to be dispersed. The society needs to accept the rape or sexual assault victims as part of the society and not condemn them. Our men need to realize that it’s not just the males who have the rights, women have equal rights. We need women who are strong enough to keep themselves safe, we need women who can speak for themselves and others. We need women who can face and punch back assaulters. News in India have hardly ever been of those who have fought back their assaulters
This is the time India as a nation, or at least the people who understand the importance of a woman, the educated class, come out of their shell of weakness. The current situation in the country is more like a cancer without a treatment. We need to put this cancer in front of all and rid the nation of this.
If the nation is considered to be a body, men, women, children, aged, etc., all are a part with equal importance. The body should realize that a part is in deep suffering and get it the right treatment.
