Curtail small instances to prevent bigger crimes
The horrific RG Kar case involving the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata and the shocking story about Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old, on trial in France, for drugging his wife, Gisele, and recruiting men from an online chatroom to rape her has forced the spotlight back on the lack of safety for women at home and work. The depressing thing about sex crimes is that it just keeps happening without pausing for breath and women continue to be at the receiving end of unspeakable cruelties.
In Gisele’s case, despite having been subjected to this horrendous abuse which was meticulously recorded for nearly a decade where she was raped more than 90 times and her husband allowed an HIV-positive man to rape her six times, she as well as her daughter, Darian, who was told that a folder labelled “Around my daughter, naked” had been discovered on her father’s computer, have remained magnificently defiant and waived their right to anonymity insisting that ‘shame changes sides’. The police have identified 50 of the suspects, who are on trial. The defendants face up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape, if convicted.
Contrast this with the RG Kar case, where the systemic failure of the state machinery has been exposed. The Supreme Court has criticised the Kolkata police for their failure to conduct a prompt investigation, allowing a mob to vandalise the hospital and using force against peaceful protestors. This disheartening scenario reminds us of too many rape and murder cases where victims fail to get justice. Conviction rates are low, perpetrators have no fear of punishment and may be seen posing with politicians, when they are not roaming around freely despite having serious allegations against them.
This cannot go on. If small instances of criminal conduct against women and girls are not curtailed, then this prevalent environment which fosters rape and other violent acts will remain unchanged. Men who piss in public, openly leer at women, harass them, and engage in catcalling, voyeurism, frotteurism and unsolicited sexting without bothering about things like decency clearly mark themselves as future sex offenders whose crimes are likely to worsen. Strict action needs to be taken but these offenses are treated as amusing trifles since men will be men and women who complain are hyper-paranoidharpies who just can’t handle ‘harmless fun’.
These so-called lesser offenses reveal the deep-rooted nature of the problem in a society where female infanticide is common because girls are viewed as burdens and liabilities. They fall in love, get themselves raped and bring ‘dishonour’ to the family or put a strain on the family finances because marrying them off entails entertaining exorbitant dowry demands.
If they remain single and work for a living, they are misfits who are asking for ‘it’. In this insalubrious climate, women who are not raped and killed are stuck in a living hell where they are undervalued and unwanted, unless it is as meat puppets to be used to slake the venal desires of base men. But #NotAllMen. Thank goodness for small mercies.
Anuja Chandramouli
Author and new age classicist
anujamouli@gmail.com