Why is rape and molestation becoming a part of our every dose of news? Have we grown so insensitive or is the judiciary and police defunct bodies of the state machinery?
Once during my years of post graduation at Jamia, I remember being a part of discussion on violence and media. One of my learned friends commented that with the advent of social media and online media, violence has become a part of our daily dose of news. Looking at gory war images, aftermath of bomb blasts, natural disasters and disintegrated bodies of victims are part of our daily news feed. The question is would we react the same way we did after looking at a dismembered body of a victim of violence like we would a decade ago. The answer is NO; we wouldn’t because somewhere all of us have been fed with a good appetite of images, videos and texts that make violence more of a normal phenomenon.
This Sunday as I was going through the newspaper, a news piece not only made me uneasy but made shivers run down my spine.
Two ruthless drunk men picked up a three year old child took her to a bathroom and pulled her underwear down….
On 10th September, 2015, this act of shock and horror took place in a moving train late at night. The cries of the three year old sent alarm waves across the coach, waking up the parents and other passengers. The parents registered a complaint against the two men to the GRP of Tundla Railway station. According to the police officials the two men accused for the crime hail from Delhi and are businessmen by profession. The two men were booked under the Protection of children from sexual abuse and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. In his statement the father of the child stated that the men were caught touching his daughter objectionably and had pulled down her dress.
The two accused businessmen were named as Rajeev Kaushik and Amit Gupta, who claimed to be jewellers in Delhi’s Shadipur area. After the incident came to light, the passengers on the superfast express thrashed the drunk men and handed them over to the railway police.
Now most of us would feel disgusted, shocked, uneasy and sad but there will also be handful of us who would actually say, “Yeh sab to aam hogaya hai, yeh toh hota hi rehta hai”, “Ab hum aur aap iss main kya kar saktein”, “Yeh sab media aur TV ke wajah se”. But I would also like to ask a question to everyone who shares the same opinion, “Why have our sensitivities and sensibilities gone for a ride? Why are we so comfortable about reading that a toddler is not even safe in the laps of her parents? Why is our judiciary so casual about dealing with men who are sick in their mind?” A few days of jail and a bail then, is this really justice? Should men accused of rape and molestation be allowed to roam free on the streets till they are proved guilty? Why cannot all of us raise a voice and ask for a non-bailable warrant for all rape accused?
Now some of my readers and my learned friends would say that on the pretext of mere accusation a man/woman cannot be withheld until proved guilty. It can also be a fabricated case, but wait a minute! Would any parent with sanity intact fabricate a case like this? Can the cries of a toddler be fake?
It’s time to think and raise our voice against the callousness with which cases of sexual violence and child abuse are treated. I am in no way trying to put a black mark on the whole judiciary, but yes, as, I can raise a question. My question to every person reading this blog is – “Can we possibly in any way repair the damage that has been done to the little girl?” and “Can we in any way make sure that a child is safe?”
Her night wouldn’t be the same again,
Her day wouldn’t be the same again,
The image of a train in her innocent mind wouldn’t be the same,
Her life wouldn’t be the same again….
Can we answer the cries of the children who are screaming each minute in various parts of our nation? Their innocence is getting lost into oblivion and what we can do is hit a like or write a comment or share the incident….Is arm chair activism really going to help?
Note: Image used in this post is only for representational purpose.
