Wolves among pigeons

N. Arunkumar *

Scores of students and others from the NorthEast living in Delhi held a protest rally on November 29 2010 at Jantar Mantar to protest the gangrape of a BPO staffer from Mizoram on 24th November 2010 - Pix: zolengthe.net

He was finally done with me,
I was done being used.
My heart in millions of pieces,
Tattered, torn, and bruised.
- Dog never rapes but human does!

Rape is perhaps the most heinous of crimes against the modesty of a woman. And the society has to react to it in the most appropriate way to condemn and punish the perpetrators of this crime. Strangely, it appears that the law against rape in this country is a bit lenient. Most times, the intrigues of a good lawyer can demolish the prosecution case against the culprit in denying that the crime had taken place in the manner in which the prosecution claims.

Many a rape case drags on for years after the crime was committed and over that time, the case gets diluted in its gravity. After all, nothing is permanent in this world and even experiences tend to get faded into sepia tones sooner or later. Only the recollection of the circumstances which had led to the rape will be remembered by the victim. The experience itself will be delegated to some corner of the mind, perhaps never to be recalled again obviously.

Now, the rape victim has few options left to defend herself, when outraged by more than one man. Often, rapes involve more than one perpetrator, and are termed as gang rapes. It is the most repulsive form of offence on a woman, undoubtedly. Yet, there have been cases where the victim is able to protect herself by castrating the victim while he was busy in indulging in the crime.

We should say that it is a fitting tribute to the virility of the man and his abusive use of the sacred bond of union. The mind of a rape victim is difficult to understand. The motive for the act may involve other social disparities or to settle a score with the victims family. It can be a case of frantic necessity to satiate the burning passion for it within a man. However, that does not justify his act or excuse him from the punishment that should be given to him. The point is, how many convictions do we come across in cases of rape? Our system just does not rise up to the gravity of the crime and act quickly enough to put the culprit to his penalty.

The law is different in various countries. The most stringent of these I would say is the Islamic Shariat, which determines capital punishment for a rapist. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the perpetrator is beheaded in public, after the Friday afternoon prayer. It has got its supporters and opponents and the act of carrying out the punishment in public is to deter such crimes and put the fear of the law into the hearts and minds of the people. Yet, rapes still occur there. It has not been completely successful in erasing the crime from the land. The frequency and numbers of it of course is much rarer and minuscule there, compared to other nations.

In our country too, there have been cases where the culprits had been sent to the gallows. But, the numbers of such verdicts are again, few and far between. This is perhaps the reason why the frequency of rapes is rising today at an alarming rate. It appears like as though the Indians are on libido overdrive. As a consequence of such disorder in the society, with rapists lurking in every nook and corner of the land, the situation is definitely nauseating and terrifying for the womenfolk.

Women therefore have no choice but to resort to self – defence by using the gadgets and tactics easily available to them. Of course, expecting every woman to learn Kung – fu or karate to do that is not practical, and also outright impossible. They had better find out easily available solutions to do that. There are many on hand and maybe I can just suggest a few here, already known to everyone.

The first thing I would suggest is to carry chilli powder in a pouch, placed at hand in your handbag or purse. It is a potent weapon, and can unsettle anyone for a good length of time, providing you the opportunity to escape or raise alarms. If you think you are safe, then you can get away without harm. The other thing is to carry a blade, a sharp knife edge blade, in order to lash out at a potential offender in time.

It is a bit dangerous though, and you have to be extremely careful not to harm yourself in the process of defending yourself. You have to be dexterous in using the blade for that. Besides, you may also use some sprays available in the market that can shock a person to numbness at times of danger. But, the good old chilli powder is the most effective in combat in this case, and one need not look for it anywhere, as it is available everywhere in abundance. It can become a boon for someone on the verge of a disaster of this kind, I bet you.

The other aspect of consensual rape is in the form of adolescent romance. Many a youngster today is getting into serious physical relationships too, thanks mainly to the virus of the mobile phones. It has given promiscuity an altogether new angle, in our times. The violations that take place due to these airwave romances are also causing heartaches to many parents of adolescents these days. Although these cannot be interpreted as rape in the conventional sense, it is an invasion on the woman’s dignity all the same.

The damage caused thereby amounts to the same as in the case of rapes. It might be construed as consensual, yet the tragedy that follows in the event of the boy jilting his beau will leave the same sort of scars as in the case of conventional rape. Thus it is one and the same. So, society has to play a more proactive role in policing the chastity of our women, instead of considering it as a joke and laughing out loud when we see young boys and girls indulging in something more than harmless friendship. The harm comes later, not immediately as we know. Better to be vigilant than regret later on.

And, while at it, our legislators hardly find time to rewrite the laws against rape or murder, to suit the age and epoch we are living in. They are busier playing politics and saving their future or ensuring their future, by filling their pockets with pots full of lucre. The laws that we do have today are mostly a legacy left behind by our colonizers who wished to reform us.

Thanks to them, the laws are still in existence, while our elected representatives do not wish to change them. They are the ones who use the loopholes in those obsolete laws, to maintain their stranglehold on the hapless people and resort to rape and murder, if not by themselves, then by their henchmen, to suppress revolt or opposition against their feudalistic reign on their own constituency.

This is the truth of our democratic disciples (khadi clad politicians), and so why should they want to change the status quo, which actually favours them hook, line and sinker? Hence, rape and murder is here to continue, and hardly anyone gets arrested by the cops and brought to book. We have to take care of our own skins, for which I have suggested some measures for my mothers and sisters here.

Watch out for yourselves! No one cares for your chastity and sacred position in our society anymore, or even your modesty. God be with you if ever such situation confronts you. It is a case of the wolves living among the pigeons today, more than ever before.