Okay, I’ll be trashed, trolled and may be mercilessly defamed if I say that rape is a normal thing nowadays, but pardon me, the intensity with which it is being reported and the menace with which these lusty wolves are making it happen, this crime seems nothing but as common as a normal occurrence.
Can rape ever be a common or a normal thing? It is RAPE after all, for God’s sake! You open the newspaper in the morning, only to be met by the news of a man raping a 15-year-old girl. You get angry and even wish to kill the accused. Your anger subsides slowly, until, the next day a similar case is reported in the news. Different day, same story. And it continues like that till you develop apathy towards any negative news.
And yet, there are no stringent laws implemented; no justice meted out to the perpetrators and no sensitivity in reporting. Are we actually normalising rape cases?
A lot of activity, protests, candle marches, debates, rules, parliament sessions, opposition blames, etc. happened after the Nirbhaya incident, and still, it didn’t change anything.
Except our parents are more mindful and strict about our late-night outings with the apprehension of something bad happening to us. Rape is like that monster lurking in the background which can attack us anytime. Kathua, Unnao, Indore, Surat… the list is neverending. How do we still manage to sleep peacefully at night?
Now death penalty for child rape (below 12 years) has been approved by the Union Cabinet. But what about those who rape adolescents and women above that bracket? Does age reduce the suffering? Or do we keep expressing outrage from time to time and then move on with our lives?
Rape is an endemic cruelty which never stops showing its ugly face. If there is a god, may he save us.