Another shocking incident of a first standard girl being raped by her teacher in school came in the forefront. This is the fourth such incident in a row over a few months. This rape incident came to light just after five days when a three and a half year old girl was raped in a nursery school. Before that, there was a similar incident of an eight year old girl was raped by her sixty three year old teacher inside the very premises of her school over a period of time. This incident came in the forefront in the month of August, post the rape of a school girl in Vibgyor school which resulted in street protests.
Rape of such young girls is condemnable. School is a place where children learn the art of social living and slowly build their confidence to turn into dignified adults. Such treatment towards them stunts their growth. It affects their self image and they very often show signs of psychological illness. Children should be treated tenderly and with utmost care as their psyche is vulnerable and very sensitive towards their environment. Building their inner strength over years is a process and any traumatic experience can leave a scar for a lifetime.
However, speaking in general, there has been a surge in rape crimes over the years. This could mean two things. One is that earlier women used to fear reporting such crimes due to social stigma and the insensitive approach of the policemen. Now, the educated population does not want the wrong doers to go scot free. Or, it could also mean that there has actually been an increase in such crimes. This goes on to show the futility of education. As Swami Vivekananda had once said,” Character is the biggest gift of education.”
The Nirbhaya incident saw the nation uniting demanding justice for the rape victim. There was nation-wide protest and the government was forced to act on the issue. Stringent laws were framed and fast track courts were formed. However, the public outrage was short-lived. Soon everything died down and we were back to square one. Yet, rapes continue to occur. The truth is, as long as there will be males and females, rapes will continue to exist. This shows how close we are to animals. Even humans have a bestial nature which has to be tamed and sensitized. All one can do to sensitise men towards the other gender and instill in them the fear of committing such crimes. May better sense prevail and may we learn to respect human beings irrespective of gender.
