It's been over two years since Nirbhaya was violated by 5 monsters, while her male friend was dragged into the driver's cabin and beaten to pulp. It's been over two years since she was murdered, since she succumbed to her injuries. All because 5 men decided they want a "joyride".
However, nothing seems to have changed. The latest statistics of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that every day 93 women are reported as having been raped in India, which shows that despite of countless vigil marches, "promises" to focus on women security and continuous ranting by us, women in India remain unsafe and the country remains devoid of stronger rape laws or at least their actual, strict implementations.
A 28-year-old-woman from Nepal was recently raped in Rohtak, Haryana. She was mentally challenged, and was in India for treatment. The Police reports and the doctor's report say that she was hit on the head, rendered unconscious and then gangraped. Stones, sticks and condoms were stuffed into her private parts. She died and was left for wild animals to feast upon. Half of her body is missing along with several of her organs.
My hands tremble as I write this. I suppose you won't want kids to read this in such detail. But I wonder if this will be enough for our policymakers to term this case as "rarest of the rare" and help bring some justice. But what is rarest of the rare? Are rapes so common that we need a so-called rare one to jostle us off our slumber or wasn't the "rare" Nirbhaya case just the last straw on the camel's back?
A minor was raped in Bengaluru by 20-year-old, who was caught in CCTV and was arrested because of that. A Japanese tourist was allegedly raped in Jaipur and a girl was beaten by her landlord because she refused to be a surrogate mother. And these are just the ones that were reported. There may be several unreported cases of women being raped, young boys being sodomised, because - here's something we often ignore - rape knows no gender.
But, what's the whole point? Even after setting up fast track courts, we are still here in the same pit, waiting for justice to be served in a case that shook the entire world because of it's barbarity. It seems the authorities only care about jokes cracked at a particular comedy roast. A video made by 5 men while they gangraped a minor which was then circulated on WhatsApp can take a backseat.
Perhaps I should listen to some people when they say I should not wear jeans, should not carry a mobile phone and continuously recite the Gayatri Mantra when I am around male friends. May be I should tie a rakhi on wrists of all boys I see and call them bhaiya. Or perhaps, as a popular leader had suggested, maybe I should just let it be because after all, boys are boys, and they make mistakes sometimes. Every one deserves a chance. No? No...
NO. Why should I be afraid to step out of my house in my own country? Am I not supposed to feel safe? I'm a citizen, I exist, I have the right to be as I want, live like I desire. But I resort to closely watching every guy I pass when am travelling to my office, from keeping a blank face to hysterically panicking that am being followed instead. I wonder what I got as a citizen of this country, belonging to a particular gender. Except for being blamed, being told to wear 'proper clothes', a 1000-crore rupee fund, which wasn't probably ever used, and the never ending fear for my safety.
Where are we? Where am I? What can I do? How long do you and I protest? How much more can I rant? Endure? Tolerate?
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