…BUT WHY WAS SHE RAPED IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF INDIA

(thought shared with PULKIT MOHAN SINGLA)

The recent news of gang rape of a 23yr old girl by 6 drunkards on a running bus has left a miserable impact on the psyche of families…Especially the fathers, brothers and boyfriends. May be because of what all happened to the girl… her bf was thrown out of the bus, she was raped for continuous 2 hours, beaten by iron rod and the rod even inserted into her due to which her small and large intestines are damaged. Thrown out of the bus at last she was lying hurt and nude on the road and nobody even cared to cover her up until the police arrived.  Her face was also damaged and she’s lying in coma… several operations done and doctors are still uncertain if she’ll survive or not.  The incident has led to a mass protest in the country. Of course the inference of the brutal incident is that the city or I must say India is not safe for women. But worth noticing is how are families reacting to this and how such incident took place in the CAPITAL CITY of the country.

I’m a convent educated girl. My principal Mrs. Williams used to tell us a story every Friday, the baseline of which was always that “SMALL THINGS MATTER A LOT”. Thinking on the same grounds I started analyzing as to what is responsible for such a brutal act??? Is it the inefficiency of Law?? Or the Police?? Or the society?? Or the psyche of people regarding the status of women in the country India?? Or is it movies? Entertainment? Porn??  Increasing female infanticide?? Or is it the women themselves??

2,28,674(approx.) rape cases were reported in year 2011 excluding the cases of marital rape ( coz that’s not even counted as rape).. From that only 58,000 cases were acted upon and 90% of the culprits are still living in jail. Moreover the punishment for the crime is just 7 yrs in prison. This is what we talk about law??

And the police????  In a magazine survey of about 100 police stations it was revealed that police officers do not act on the reports, and the justifications they give for the matter is that 90% of the women filing such reports are either prostitutes or the ones aggressing the males themselves. Not just this… in a country where vehicles having tinted windows are not allowed; a bus with curtains and tinted windows roam almost everywhere in the city brutally raping a girl and is not stopped even by a single traffic police officer.

We blame the law and the police at the highest of our pitch but what about the society where female infanticide is increasing day by day rendering a girl child as a burden on the family??? And especially a burden due to dowry demands and mythical notions that a male child carries a family’s existence and the funeral done by a son will confirm you salvation or a place in heaven. Or the society where girls are restricted, forced to submission, stay homely, beaten, burnt, abused, and even raped by several members of the family in which she is married??? What would the guys brought up in such families learn??? That abusing and beating a girl is normal!! coz my dad does that to my mother, my brother does that to his wife, so its cool if I do the same to my wife or gf????? 

This is the situation of literate. And the illiterates???? Majority of people live below poverty line struggling for daily living, working as house maids, drivers, auto and rickshaw pullers, vegetable or fruit sellers, street vendors etc who marry the girls of 13 or similar age and by the age of 27 these ladies give birth to 13-14 kids. Some of them are sold, some given away for child labor, some opt for unfair means and some die out of some illness. How is crime not expected from such people who are so frustrated and struggling for a living????

This is not everywhere. There are families with the so called “modern beliefs”.. They don’t restrict their girls, co-education and all are encouraged. Wearing modern dresses is also allowed. But I also have a query regarding this uneven modernization of the society. Girls visit malls and public places wearing sexy/tight dresses intending to attract some handsome guy the filmy way. How bout the lusty beasts selling fruits or driving vehicles by the road side?? Is it a girl’s fault or is a guy’s fault?? Or is it both the ways???

Even if I skip blaming the guys and the girls here, how about the films and entertainment world??? The explicit sex scenes had been increasingly shown in movies, item songs with some bar dancers dancing in bikinis around drunken guys… God knows what sensor board does!!  Or the cheap porn been shown in old theatres of not so developed cities?? And such content being easily available to cheap people??? Or the increasing adventurous twists in the porns ranging from blowjobs to gangbangs and stuffs like this??? Or Some women publicly announcing to go nude if the cricket team won the match?? Some women being forced to give similar pleasures and some are volunteering happily for the same.

Or is it us??? The people of so called “civilized society” ranging from doctors, lawyers, businessmen to officers, politicians, actors and celebrities who talk and discuss at length about such heinous crimes, whine about the mismanagement in the society, criticize law, criticize police, say things like: “city isn’t safe.  ... Such people must be hanged or given punishments publicly... Etc etc”, sympathize with the suffering victim, restrict the girls and ladies at home and having their part of duty done take nice nap on their comfortable mattress??? Aren’t we also responsible in the 0.001% way for the incident that happened with the little innocent girl????

Like expected my family has also restricted my movement because they are also scared. But what makes a difference for me is that in the morning my dad handed me a pepper spray saying: “the city is not safe and you must carry this with you. Not just this, I’m going to teach you self defense so that wherever you are, you can protect yourself. Other than that you just need to be a little alert whenever you go out.”.

And I think this is what really needs to be done in addition to implementation of strict laws… A social reform, change of psyche, teaching the girls and the weak to protect themselves and to stay alert.

Gandhi ji said: women have much more potential than men. And with this I Dr. Prerna want to appeal all the people reading this blog to please teach your kids love and respect for the girls and the weak, teach your girls to protect themselves. Because the society changes the city and cities change the country. Small things do matter a lot. If nothing changed then the day is not far when women will protect themselves their way.