So, the rapists have ganged up against all women of Haryana. More than nineteen cases of rape were reported in the state, in a month. Let’s not forget that nineteen is a number we got to know from the media; we still don’t know how many complaints the Haryana Police refused to lodge. Add to that, the number of cases which were not reported at all due to varied reasons like family image, the victim is too ashamed or afraid, the victim being murdered etc.
We call ourselves a civilized society; but we don’t fit the definition. What kind of civilization punishes the victim of a crime and defends the criminal? Only in India can we have such a setup. It runs so seamlessly because it is so well integrated into the minds of the people.
The victim is to be blamed because either she was drunk, or was wearing provocative clothes, or was out alone at night. No one dares to question the man who committed such a horrendous crime like rape, because, he is a man. In India it is a woman’s duty not to provoke a man, who is in-fact an animal.
Heard about “khaaps”? A group of foolish old men, who give verdicts on other people’s lives, is a “khaap”. They kill for honor, or money, who knows? They put demands as unreasonable as decreasing the marriageable age for women to avoid rapes. Ah, well they think that the women in India beg the rapist in every man, to rape her in order to fulfill her sexual needs.
Recently, our very own “khaaps” promoted Child Marriage as a means to stop rapes. These so called gentleman who love to play moral police, mostly to the women and youth, never thought that perhaps trying to teach our boys to respect women could be a solution. Instead, they think innocent little girls should suffer by means of a child marriage to avoid being raped. I was shocked to hear something of this kind and the shock multiplied manifolds when the ex Chief Minister of the rape-state of India, Chautala, backed this ridiculous belief. (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-10/india/34362764_1_marriageable-age-khap-leaders-sachhakhera-village)
By that logic, married women must not be raped, right?
These khaaps clearly have a soft corner for the rapists. They don’t care about the victim, well because she is a girl. She is just a machine to produce male children. They didn’t bother to support the victim in registering a police complaint. Rather they are the ones who blame a woman for a crime she was the victim of.
Anyways, we all know that defending a crime is a crime in itself, right? So, by that logic, aren’t these khaaps, rapist too? They are the ones who rape truth and modify it to justify honor killings, rapes, female foeticide, dowry and many other crimes against women.
Unless we have real laws to deal with sexual crimes, molestation of women will not stop in this country. Until women are treated as sex toys or childbearing machines, the respect for women cannot be taught. We need strict laws, maybe even capital punishment for rapists.
I know, it is important to kill the crime, not the criminal. But, I think few of those criminals need to sacrifice their already soiled lives, so that the people of this country understand that they cannot just get away with a crime like rape.
It is high time we start teaching our sons to respect women, rather than teach our girls to not dress provocatively, to be submissive, to not have a loud voice, to not look into a stranger’s eyes, to not leave the house alone at night, to carry a pepper spray and many more things.
Rapists, Karma is a b**** and I am sure you’ll regret it sooner or later.
Akanksha Dureja
Image Source [http://youthdiaries.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/child-marriage-2.jpg]
