Last night's episode of Crime Patrol, depicting in all probability the
Kamduni gang rape and murder crime of 2013, left me deeply disturbed and outraged. The tragic incident in which a 20-year-old college student, while walking back home from college, was abducted and taken inside a factory where she was gang-raped by eight men. And after raping her, the perpetrators tore apart her legs up to the navel, slit her throat and dumped her body into a nearby field. The episode hurt my soul in so many ways - the agony of her distraught family members, a bright future cut short, just as it had happened in case of Jyoti Singh Pandey (December 2012 Delhi) or Priyanka Reddy (November 2019 Hyderabad) and so many others. The girl, Shipra Ghosh, was a bright student and had a desire to succeed, a passion for serving others, she wanted to become an IAS officer. But alas, all of her dreams, hopes and aspirations were snatched away in one instant. I was so disturbed that I couldn't sleep last night.
RELATED BLOG POST: What if I were a girl?
It's times like these that I feel ashamed of being a man. I feel ashamed of belonging to a gender that has had, throughout history and in every culture, intimidated, subjugated, exploited, belittled and humiliated women, purely and simply because they are women!
Now I can't help wondering, what if I were a girl? Would I have been able to cope with the ordeal that women and girls live through every day - being whistled at, jeered, pawed, groped or stalked? Would it have been easy for me to confront the fear that they go through each day, with the threat of rape or molestation dangling over me? Would I have even made it to this day unscathed, what with the sexual predators lurking around every corner, waiting to pounce on their hapless prey? Click here to READ MORE...
A similar incident had occurred in September 2018 too, in Rewari (Haryana) when a 19 year old girl while on her way to coaching class was abducted, drugged, and gang-raped by three men. It's more than a year now but the case is still under trial at the court of Additional Sessions Judge in Mahendergarh. In the mean time, the kin of two of the accused had allegedly tried to put pressure on the victim’s family to reach a compromise and threatened them with dire consequences, if they didn't withdraw the gang-rape case. The irony is that five persons, including four women, who were arrested for threatening the victim's family, were later let off on bail!
“I still cannot find one reason why she had to undergo all this pain and trauma. Is it because she is a woman? Perhaps she was wrong to have big aspirations despite being a woman in this male-dominated society. But could staying indoors have guaranteed her safety? Maybe, maybe not. It is not just those three men but the entire society and the system seem to have conspired to rape her” -- these were the words of the victim's father, who has struggled and fought against all odds given his meagre means, to fulfil her daughter's aspirations (who herself was a CBSE topper in Haryana).
What's heart-breaking is that such horrors, such inhumanity and injustice continue unabated and we aren't able to do anything about them! Ever since, I have been grappling with the overriding question, "When will this depravity end?"
When will be Humanity restored?
A brave little flower, lively and benign,
With shine in her eyes and dreams to design,
she continued to rise and unfold with grace
even as sharp grey gusts, every now and then, blew into her face...
Defying the odds, she followed her dreams,
If not for that day, she would have sparkled in sunbeams!
Why then was she crushed while still in her prime?
Oh, cruel fate, it wasn't even her time!
She went through a lot but she stayed strong,
Never giving up, she fought for every breath all along,
For no fault of hers, the braveheart had to die,
Even when she never wanted to say good-bye!
The darling of her family, she was their hope,
This irreparable loss, how will they cope?
Looking inwards, we all need to ask 'Why?'
Why are women being trampled this way and why are they being belittled thereby?
Why are they being subjected to violence and why are they being made to die?
Why is a woman's autonomy held valueless and why is her honour so insignificant to a man's eye?
Why is this misogyny and why is this depravity?
When will be humanity restored and when will come dignity?
Why have we made it a curse to be born a female?
Are we not complicit in these crimes when our indifference and discrimination still prevail?
God willing, someday all women shall be safe, and so shall be my loved ones
but until that day is true,
every girl I meet, will remind me of you
Rest in Peace, Braveheart
And to all whom we have failed, I am really sorry...
