In our society, every time a woman is raped, either her clothes or actions are judged and questioned?
You will find the aunties and uncles of our society blaming the victim rather than the culprit. They will leave no stone unturned in shaming the victim and her family. They would pass their unsolicited judgments on why the victim was raped.
Rather than asking the question – How we should help the victim in seeking justice? They would ask:
Why was she wearing such clothes?Â
Why was she out of home at such late hours?
Or, Why was she drinking?Â
Or, Why her parents didn’t teach any traditional cultural values?
Recently, a video of one such aunty, who asked men in the restaurant to rape women wearing short dresses went viral. It showed how as a society we don’t take actions to stop rape but blame women so they don’t speak up.
But, we would love to hear what these uncles and aunties have to say on the rape of a 10-month-old baby in Rajasthan.
What do they think this innocent 10-month-old baby did for getting raped?Â
On Sunday, a minor boy, 15-year-old, allegedly raped a 10-month-old baby in Rajasthan’s district Karauli. This incident has shocked not only the whole district but the nation as well.
Roop Singh, the investing officer shared with TOI,
“The accused was a frequent visitor at the rape survivor’s house as their residences were close to each other. On Sunday, he told the parents that he was taking her to play with but instead took her to a secluded area and raped her. The family registered a case against the accused.”
Though the accused was produced in the court on Tuesday, this incident is a wake-up call for our sleeping nation.
As a society, we have justified the rape in the name of the victim’s clothes or actions since time immemorial. And, this is the reason why even a 10-month-old baby is not safe.
If as a nation, we don’t exercise measures to curb this issue at the earliest, then we should be ready to face the rape epidemic.
A few months back, while giving the death penalty to a 22-year-old man accused of raping a 3-year-old-girl, Judge Neerja Dadhich had recited a very emotional and a hard-hitting poem.
Few lines of that poem that may touch your heart too:
Kapdon ke kaaran hote rape jo kahein, unhein batlaun main,
aakhir teen saal ki bachchi ko, saree kaise pehnaun main?Gar ab bhi na sudhre toh ek din aisa aayega,
iss desh ko beti dene se bhaghwaan bhi ghabhrayega.