India: Protecting The Rapist
Juvenile
or not—rape is the worst adult crime possible. Anybody who commits this crime
is thus the worst criminal and justice must be meted out to him as sternly and
ruthlessly as possible in total disregard to the age factor. The horrible Delhi gangrape of 16th December, 2012 is still a nightmare in the minds of
most of the right-thinking people of this country. Therefore, their pain and shock
at the release of the most brutal of the rapists who happened to be just days
short of the juvenile age of 18 as fixed by international and national
standards is only natural. The disturbed and crying mother of Nirbhaya is a
sight that can rattle the conscience of any except the ‘animals’ in human garb.
The continuing protests in the national capital are just a reminder of the mass
uprising against juvenile crimes in 2012 and onwards.
A
juvenile criminal can be kept in a remand home for a maximum of three years for
supposed ‘reform’ and then has to be released as per the prevailing law,
international standards and a host of ‘child’ rights hue and cry. Thus, on the completion
of that period on 18th of December, 2015 the Delhi High court
refused to extend the stay and accordingly the ‘animal’ was released on Sunday,
the 20th December in an undisclosed location in Delhi under police
protection and supervision of an NGO. This would not be inhuman to say that
such an act reminds us of taking unwanted dogs or cats on a ride and releasing
them on locations from where they could not possibly return home.
Against
all judicial odds the Delhi Commission for Women appealed against the release
in the Supreme Court of India and an eager nation waited for the final verdict.
Disappointing all righteous souls the Apex court had no other option but to
dismiss the petition today, the 21st of December, 2015. The judicial
dilemma is palpable—the verdict delivered despite the opposition of the nation,
the opposition of the Union Government and the opposition of most right-minded
political leaders. What could the helpless mother of Nirbhaya do now apart from
tearfully expressing her resolve to go on fighting the system that seems to be
more interested in protecting the rapists and not listening to the victims?
Of
course, there is no prejudice or bias in the judicial verdicts—because prevailing
laws cannot be set aside unless there is a new legislation on juvenile acts. This
brings us to the political scenario. In our wonderfully ‘democratic’ country we
often find prominent political leaders trying hard to protect their rapist sons
or relatives or even themselves from the law. Many of them question the victims
or the survivors on what they wore or how they behaved before being raped
rather than the perpetrators. Some of most prominent leaders even justify such
acts as ‘natural outbursts of masculinity’. The archaic ‘feudalistic’ mindset
of the largest democracy of the world refuses to leave it alone.
It
also reflects predominantly on the political class that the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is still not passed despite being
approved in Lok Sabha in May this year. Well, for most of the political leaders
who now join the ‘holy’ opposition the new ‘democratic’ standard is to prevent
Parliament from functioning. Two full sessions of Parliament including the
current one have been washed out almost completely thanks to their ‘so just and
so non-corrupt’ stands. In our wonderfully ‘democratic’ country even ruling leaders
call the Prime Minster a ‘psychopath and coward’. So pray, who would ‘demean’
themselves trying to find ways to take care of the victims rather than
protecting the rapist.
Time
came in 2012 and time comes again now that people make their crucial decisions
themselves instead of depending on their so-called representatives.
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