KOCHI: Even as the family of the three youngsters killed in the Nedumbassery car crash seeks answers over the investigation, a parallel trial is under way on social media, where the victims are being questioned for being out late at night. Exposing how moral policing and victim-blaming can overshadow the crime, the debate has veered from the alleged drunk driving that claimed three lives to the youngsters’ personal choices.
The discourse has taken a communal turn too. Hindutva groups questioned why the deceased women Gopika and Devika, both Hindu, were out with their Muslim friend Iyas late at night. Others questioned why the youngsters were in a public space at that hour, as though their decision to step out warrants scrutiny even after their deaths.
TISS researcher Divya G S said patriarchal and Hindu fundamentalist perspectives often resorted to victim-blaming, even in cases of rape and molestation.
“Such patterns are always observed, but it is saddening to see them surface in such an apparent case of an accident. Initially, there was sympathy for the victims. Gradually, the narrative shifted to questions about why there were three of them, why they were not wearing helmets, why they were travelling at night and the communal angle.
This is a mediated effort to shift the narrative. Viewing personal liberty as a threat is rooted in a patriarchal mindset. Though the context changes, the age-old narrative stays the same,” said Divya, who is researching on ‘Gender and Subjectivities at Work’ .
For the families, the online commentary has added to an already difficult ordeal. While pursuing answers over the investigation, including the omission of the accused’s name from the FIR and collection of blood samples from Gopika’s body after the postmortem, they have also had to counter narratives that shift the blame towards the victims.
“Both women had classes in the morning and worked part-time at Sukoyo, a stationery store. Though the shop closes at 10pm, they would take half an hour or more to wrap up the work. It is after this that they reach their PGs. If not after that, when do they go out to eat or have some time of their own? Gopika tells us everything, and these are flimsy arguments in the middle of a crime. Society must react against such small-minded takes,” Gopika’s father M R Pradeep Kumar told TNIE.
Her paternal uncle, M R Anil Kumar, called for intervention by the home department and the state police chief to curb such comments. “I have no idea of a law that restrains anybody from going out at night. Equating going out at night with engaging in immoral activities is not right. Many are making such comments, including Sasikala, the Hindu Aikya Vedi leader, because the social set-up enables them. The DGP should directly take this up and put an end to it,” he said.
Advocate Sandhya Raju George said the controversy was diverting attention from the crime. “The whole issue is about a boy driving under the influence of alcohol and killing three youngsters. If it had not been them, others on the road could have been killed. The point is not who stepped out at night, but the crime that took lives. Shifting the focus to the character of the youngsters is an attempt to derail attention from the actual incident, in which the accused’s name itself is missing from the FIR,” Sandhya said.
Top cop promises action
State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar said action would be initiated over the comments and social media posts. The district police chief concerned would be directed to approach the family and ask them to file a complaint. “A complaint is necessary to initiate a probe. Then we can take down such posts, trace their sources and initiate action against individuals. It is unfortunate that such comments are being made in the aftermath of such an incident,” he told TNIE.
