Dealing with Rape

The recent death of 2 victims of rape that the media highlighted is a gruesome reminder of how pitiably inadequate our state of preparedness is for dealing with this hazard to health and life.

I am told that the reason why crime rates in Singapore are one of the lowest in the world is because people there are scared to commit them. What deters potential criminals is a high chance of being nabbed (good policing) , that no amount of phone calls can prevent or reverse. Further, the punishment for crime is strict and harsh.

What happens in India is quite the opposite. Most rapists feel confident of getting away. The girl, they feel, would be so shocked, “stigmatized” or perhaps even dead that she and her family would probably not dare to complain. The culprits of the Delhi gang-rape case in which 6 criminals assaulted a 23 year old in a bus probably thought that way!

What deters a victim further is the lack of grooming of the hospital and police staff to attend to a victim’s complaint in a supportive reassuring manner, that helps her regain her bruised dignity and confidence. Then comes the need for timely and quick action by law enforcers who are not only required to catch the culprits, but ensure adequate protection to the victim and her family. 

This was the tragic saga of the 17 year old in Patiala, who despite physically surviving a gang-rape, had the courage to speak out and complain. But why did the law enforcers and society betray her instead of supporting and protecting her, that pushed her to take the final drastic step in utter frustration and end her life.? Obviously “unequal justice”! The culprits were smug that “someone” will protect them!

Last, but not the least, is how we protect girls from such criminals. In the aftermath of these torrid events several politicians have tried to touch the common cord by stating they have daughters too. The grim reality is that the daughters who got raped belonged to vulnerable sections of society, had no cars, contacts or powerful fathers, and could but rely only on what the society and the “system” had to offer.  And we saw what they got!

While we are still trying to come to terms with the horrific tragedy, legal pundits are already waxing eloquence on mitigating the punishment for the “juvenile’ culprit in the Delhi crime.

The Singapore and middle-east examples tell us that only if punishment is exemplary does it serve as a deterrent. But even those whose hearts are full of compassion for criminals should try to answer how safe would feel to have the18 year old boy whose fatal shove of the iron rod into the girl’s interiors caused her death, to be allowed to roam free in the neighborhood where defence-less young girls reside?

A society is judged not by its economic or military might, but by how it cares for its vulnerable sections.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 30 December, 2012.