As the BJP government’s tenure is coming to an end, the condition of BETI (daughter) in India is at stake. The much-hyped Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme (BBBPS) is a flagship programme run by the central government to ensure the survival, protection, and education of a girl child. The idea may be noble, but according to the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) state reports, the scheme has not been able to achieve its objectives. Forget about education, she is not even provided with basic security, every day there is a brutal incidence against a girl child, PM Modi maintained his silence and his leaders are issuing brainless statements by rubbing salt on the wounds. BJP lawmaker Surendra Singh, who had earlier blamed the parents and mobile phones for rising rape cases in the country, has now said that even Lord Ram won’t be able to stop rapes. The motormouth BJP lawmaker had earlier made statements like “prostitutes are better than government officers” and had blamed the parents and teenagers using smartphones for the rape cases. These lawmakers are talking like the modern age Ravanas. See how political power has also made them challenge Lord Rama. By this challenge, he has also told the public that he will not solve any such problems occurring in his state and that is why there are heinous crimes against women on a daily basis.
The recent viral video of woman molestation was horrible; the video showing three men molesting a woman in Unnao was widely circulated on the social media. The broadcasters not only dragged her to the jungle but they were making a video of the molestation. The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested three young men and launched a manhunt for others. The victim, who has been traced, claimed that she was gang-raped by the men. In the video, said to have been shot two months ago but which surfaced now, at least three men are seen as sexually harassing the woman and forcibly dragging her away to a secluded place. While the woman pleads with them to let her go, they hurl abuses at her. As she protests, the fourth man filming the incident threatens to make the “video viral”. The rapes have become casual and there is no deterrence for law and order. Yogi Adityanath set anti-Romeo squads around UP to protects girls, but they landed up molesting the girls in the name of moral policing. Somehow, that same squad has become a danger to the females of UP. The lady in the Unnao molestation video was going to buy some medicines with someone when she came across two-three of the accused youths who offered to give her a ride and drove her to a eucalyptus garden near the village. She was raped there. The accused have been identified as Vipin, Pawan, Ritik, Vimal, Rahul and a minor. While Rahul and Vimal were arrested, the minor has been lodged in a remand home. But the fact is that, in UP, in the name of love jihad, many Muslim youth and girls were brutally bashed. Look at this case — the rapist and the victim belong to the same religion but no one came forward to bash them.
Two Telangana women pressed sexual assault charges on TRS MP Balka Suman. Vijetha and Sandhya alleged that the MP had sexually assaulted them and requested Prime Minister Modi’s intervention in the issue. However, the MP had denied all charges and even went on to say that he would die if the charges are proven against him. Let it be Mithun Chakraborty’s son or some godmen, high profile personalities to the common man, all are on a raping spree. There is no safe place for a woman. A 45-year-old Gurugram businessman has been arrested for sexually assaulting his daughter’s friend, who had come to his place for a sleepover. The girl (18) had gone for a night stay at her friend’s place, where the accused offered her some drinks and later raped her in his bedroom. The girl had been invited over by the accused’s daughter, who studies abroad and had come home during her vacation. Moral of the story is, do sleepovers at your own risk. Why are these kind of incidents happening (almost daily) in Delhi, UP, MP, Bihar, and Maharashtra only? The law for rape should change in India. We make so many amendments in the laws to suit our needs; one more change will not make a difference. As many as 2.5 million crimes against women have been reported in India over the last decade. Reported cases of crimes against women increased 83 per cent from 185,312 in 2007 to 338,954 in 2016. This figure includes crimes including rape, kidnapping, sexual harassment, trafficking, molestation and cruelty by the husbands and relatives. These also include crimes in which a woman was driven to suicide as a result of demands for a dowry from her husband or in-laws – Delhi records most rapes as crimes against women rise in India. 2014 Badaun gang-rape in UP, where two minors were brutally gang-raped and then hanged had nothing to do with the women empowerment. They were raped and killed when they went out to defecate in the fields as they had no toilets at home. This is just a glimpse of a large picture and may be one of the many reasons why rapes are on the rise. Women are forced to go out in the fields to defecate or relieve themselves only because they had no toilets at home. Ok, after this incidence, Modiji again campaigned for toilets and Akshay Kumar came up with a movie called “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha”.
The problem lies in the mentality of the patriarchal Indian society wherein a woman is considered inferior to the men in the society. It lies in the thought that a man has the right to rule over the body, mind, and soul of a woman; that a woman is incomplete without a man. It lies in the thought that a woman dressed “provocatively” wants to be raped. A woman going out to discotheques and pubs, drinking, smoking or going out with a gang of boys is considered to be an easy catch. She is labelled to be characterless, “a bad woman” and is considered to be giving an “invitation to rape”. The question arises in the male minds is, “She is a woman. How can she?” On parallel lines, a man dressed fashionably is cool. He is a dude if he drinks and smokes and has girls swooning around him. How does the society justify this? The mentality that man must prove his manhood by getting laid with a girl is cruel? This patriarchal mentality itself is the main cause of the increasing rape scenario. The root of all causes lies in this cheap mentality. Of course, it is not true for all sectors of the Indian society and cannot be generalised, but it stands true for the majority of the cases.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
