We are in rage, all of us. The gang rape which took place in
Delhi, has got us questioning. Got us thinking about a major crisis India is
facing. Our law an order machinery has failed, and it did not happen today, it
has happened a long long time ago. It just that us ‘law abiding citizens ‘
never come face to face with it. ( its not just an activist’s claim, there are
3.20000000 pending cases in Indian courts (1) )
Today we are on the streets & we should be. But why are
we there? The pressure we created has led to rapid action by the police against
these rapists, more importantly the Chief Minister herself is looking into
ensuring the victim gets the best medical attention. So what now?
Yes we pray every day for the victim, and hope she recovers
quickly.
What about the rapists who are jailed? The process of
justice is a slow and lengthy one ( though this particular case will be tried
in so called ‘ fast track court ‘, first date is 9th January ( so
that the judiciaty & police have ample time to celebrate santa &
recover from their hangover of the 31st December celebration, by the
time all the steps:
1.
Framing of charge
2.
Recording of prosecution evidence
3.
Statement of accused
4.
Defence evidence hearing
5.
Final arguments
6.
Judgment
Are done the public anger would have subsided ( like it has
for all the cases in the past ), let us presume the rapists are granted the
maximum punishment under IPC for gang rape which is 10 years. ( usually only 2
out of 10 rape cases reach a conviction, if ever (2) )
10 years these 6 men will stay in company of similar men all
convicted of rape/murder/robbery or some other felony. 10 years of such company
& the atmosphere of Indian jails will these 6 men be
reformed ? When released will they be respecting women ?
Lets say somehow we our pressure leads to them being jailed
for life, so in that scenario they will never be a threat to the society. They
will join the existing population of prisoners in our over spilling jails, will
be kept alive on the tax payers money ( my money ), for what ? For the day they
die in Jail ? Yes it might lead to the fear of the law,
sending a message : that if you rape & if
its in the capital & if
the students are not having exams & if the media vans can be parked close to the demonstration,
in that scenario of scenarios you would have to spend your life in jail. ( Jail
a place which 30% of malnourished homeless India views as a pathetic shelter
home, but a shelter home none the less )
Is that really the message which we want to send out ?
Secondly a rather direct question if its really for scaring people from
committing rape. What should be our message
If you rape, you will spend rest of your life in
confinement.
OR
If you rape, you will be killed.
Reading up
there is a provision in the IPC which say, they can be hanged in the ‘ rarest of the rare cases’ Well the way
I see it, rape is one such crime. Its
not committed out of poverty, out of compulsion, for survival. If you disagree with me, ask any rape
victim and I am sure they will answer the same.
Yes these 6 men should be hanged, and yes the only
punishment for rapists is capital punishment. For the human right defenders ,
well in my not so humble opinion, rape is the most inhuman act of them all, and
they deserve to die.
Sources
No comments:
Post a Comment