*Trigger Warning: Mention Of Rape*
On 29 September last year, the country came to a standstill when a Dalit girl who was raped by four upper-caste men succumbed to her injuries and died. UP Police burnt the dead body at midnight without letting the family get hold of her last rites with a clear intention to hide the case.
Last year the week had left me sleepless and disturbed, and today, what compels me to write this article is that nothing really seems to have changed from Nirbhaya to Manisha.
Those who had to take footage from the case took it, those who wanted to resist justice because culprits were their own people resisted with full force, and amid all this, what didn’t change was the plight of Indian women. Rather, it kept getting worse, with women and even little girls being raped.
When BJP leaders compare a woman to a cow, I agree with them. As a cow reaches adolescence, they are compelled for intercourse by bulls of all ages. The only difference between cows and women is that bulls wait for a cow to enter adolescence. Men don’t wait that long. They can happily rape a 6-month-old infant and a 72-year-old alike. You see, they are more “powerful” than bulls.
Everybody is worried about women of their own religion, caste, family, political preferences because it is not women they wish to protect.
We live in a country where the Pandavas, who let their wife be defamed, and Ram, who let his wife pass through fire, are considered Gods by men and women alike. So it doesn’t surprise me anymore when women are selectively protected based on political interests, community and religion.
The worst is, my aforementioned views are opposed mostly by women. The conditioned women who don’t realise the gravity of how their ignorance shallowly ruins the way a woman must be treated. Unless women start teaching their sons the concept of equality and respect, there is no way anything is going to change in this country.
The UP Police Force that happened to be the major culprit in this disaster turned out to be a group of cowards who agreed to turn criminal simply to save their salaries. Unless the police force of this country shows disobedience to the orders they get, law and order can never fall in place.
It is painful to see women and girls fall prey to scavengers every day without being given protection, security or training to save themselves.
Remembering Manisha Valmiki, I wish this country becomes a safer, better place for girls. Please teach your daughters that till they can save themselves, learning to cook food is unimportant. Change the way girls and boys are raised.