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Crimes against women
A matter of national shame !Rashmi Oberoi
Haryana, already
infamous for being
the state with the
worst sex ratio, has
now earned the
dubious distinction of
also topping the country in the
number of gang-rapes. How do you change deepseated societal misogyny? Indian attitudes about what it means to have a girl have not changed. Men and women inside and outside of India still feel disappointment when a girl is born. Now there is the real rub. Killing a girl just for being born a girl is both the beginning of preferential treatment for boys and the beginning of a misogyny that is sure to break down all levels of respect for all women. following an improvement in the gender ratio. In Panipat, an 11- year-old girl was raped and strangled after she was kidnapped when she had left her house to dump garbage.A 22- year old woman was kidnapped and gang-raped for two hours in a SUV in Faridabad. A six-year-old girl was raped and killed in the state's Hisar district. She had also been tortured with a stick. It is appalling that the government and local administration are doing nothing to bring such horrific crimes to an end. Unless stringent punishments are brought in and the guilty are charged for their offences, there will be no change. We need fast-track courts that deliver lethal punishments that are carried off instantaneously and not dragged on for years.
The wider problem is the one that needs resolution. How do you change deep-seated societal misogyny? Indian attitudes about what it means to have a girl have not changed. Men and women inside and outside of India still feel disappointment when a girl is born. Now there is the real rub. Killing a girl just for being born a girl is both the beginning of preferential treatment for boys and the beginning of a misogyny that is sure It is a p pa lli n g t ha t t h e gov er nment a n d local ad m i nist ra ti o n a re doin g not h ing to b rin g su c h hor ri f i c cr ime s to an en d . U nless str ing e n t p u nish m e n ts are br o ug ht i n and t he g u ilt y ar e char ge d for their o f f e nce s , th er e w ill b e no c ha ng e. W e n e e d f a s t - t rack cou rts t h a t deli ve r l e t ha l pu n ishmen t s that ar e c ar ri ed o f f in s t a n ta neousl y a nd n o t d ra gg e d o n for years. to break down all levels of respect for all women. If there is no respect for the life of a female infant, then surely there is no respect for the life of the woman who gave birth to her. It's cyclical. Didn't Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, promise to protect every citizen of his state? He has failed not only as an administrative head but in his duty to protect women and give them their basic rights. When will the administration swing into action and bring the culprits to book with the harshest of punishments? When will his so-called police provide a safe environment to its citizens? There are unending questions to
these horrific crimes – but no answers
and no damage control being done. It
means that the government doesn't
care about women getting abused,
violated and killed.Which brings me to
a stark reality: Why does rape not
move the Indian political class? Why
are they unable to deal with it? For women to be safe we need a complete change in the social mindset… a transformation and law enforcement agencies who will be made accountable for all the crimes and disorder situations. Women do have a right to move about without fear and the right to restitution if violated. The Constitution guarantees equal rights to every citizen. Every rape makes a mockery of this right, and is a blot on those entrusted with upholding the Constitution. To bring about change, we need the political class to wake up and ensure that women feel safe once again. The author is a leading commentator on contemporary issues. |