The
Capital has erupted once again over the gruesome kidnapping and rape of
a five-year-old girl child. This time, the protests are more political
with the presence of volunteers from organisations such as the Aam Aadmi
Party, the ABVP, etc. But matters have come to such a head vis-à-vis
the gender front that help from any quarter is welcome.
Since the
gang rape of the physiotherapy student in Delhi in December 2012,
horrendous and continuing brutalisation and sexual assaults on women
have continued. Western tourists have also not been spared, resulting in
advisories by countries such as the US and the UK cautioning women
tourists to take extreme care while travelling in India.
Erupting
even amidst economic scams connected to 2G and 3G Spectrum and Coalgate,
the debate on India being no country for women/girls has hogged media
headlines. Grim-faced politicians, from the UPA as well as the
Opposition, have expressed their pain and outrage at these developments,
and voiced concern on the growing cult of violence against women.
In
the latest incident of monstrosity on the tiny girl in Gandhi Nagar in
Delhi, once again we saw the total indifference and callous attitude of
the police. The child’s parents were made to wait for hours to file a
“missing” complaint. The child, abandoned in a room in the same building
in a serious condition, was found no thanks to the police but after her
cries were heard by a neighbour.
The events that followed were even more bizarre when it comes to shaming and disgracing an already discredited police force.
A
policeman offered the father a “bribe” of Rs 2,000 to hush up the
matter! Hence it was nothing short of catharsis to watch continuous
telecast of several protestors offering the police a “bribe” of Rs
2,000. The pained expressions on the face of the policemen facing this
barrage was gratifying, to say the least.
Known perpetrators
At
the core of the protests and demands from Opposition parties is the
issue of Delhi, and the rest of India as well, being unsafe and insecure
for women. This is not to defend the police force, which is more often
than not found lacking when it comes to prompt filing of FIRs or
investigation. But the fact remains that much of the violence — sexual
and otherwise – that women and girls face is perpetrated by known
people… a relative, a friend, a lover or ex-lover. If not in the womb,
where foetuses are aborted, with the common consent of male and female
relatives.
Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who addressed a
press conference Monday afternoon, was quick to latch on to his point
when questions were raised about his resignation.
At first he impudently asked the reporter, “When you do misreporting, does your editor resign?”
Later
he pointed out the futility of expecting the police to prevent sexual
assaults against women or girls that are carried out by their relatives.
Quoting figures, he said that in several cases, fathers, stepfathers,
brothers-in-law, cousins, neighbours, lovers and ex-lovers were guilty
of rape. This doesn’t absolve those supposed to prevent crimes failing
to do so in thousands of cases where young women are abducted on roads
or raped in moving cars, as happens often in Delhi, but there is an
element of truth in what he says.
The mighty climb down
But
what I enjoyed the most while watching Kumar’s live press conference
was his opening statement where he said the ACP who had slapped a woman
protestor had been suspended. But the two policemen who had offered
bribe to the father to hush up the case had not been identified because
the father was busy in the hospital where his daughter was being
treated.
And next followed a clear demonstration of what
collective rage or mass protests can do. Delhi’s police force was ready,
said its chief, to parade the possible culprits before the father at
the hospital if he so desired!
Wow! How
many ordinary people who throng our police stations for a modicum of
action or justice can expect such a gesture from the top boss of the
police?
No country for the poor too
But let us not fool
ourselves. Whether it is the crime redressal dispensation, or our
justice system, beginning with the lawyer who takes up a case, how many
economically disadvantaged people have timely access to these? But for
the protests which the media picked up and broadcast and wrote about,
would the two men accused in this child’s rape been arrested so quickly?
The
heavy wheels of our crime administration system move only on the
application of lubricants such as bribes, influence, or public pressure.
The ACP who slapped the woman protestor only displayed the habitual
arrogance of our public “servants”. And why only suspend a senior
officer who would dare to so impudently slap a young woman in full view
of hundreds of others? Instead of a “departmental inquiry” in which the
public has little faith, should he not be thrown behind bars?
Isn’t
a man in uniform who is supposed to protect civilians a bigger criminal
when he assaults a woman? And one who is well within her right to
express her outrage over the plummeting record of the Delhi
administration when it comes to making girls like her feel safe.
Juxtaposed
against the way our creaky wheels of crime investigation and justice
dispensation move, I watched in utter admiration the speed and
efficiency with which the Boston police carried out operations to hunt
down and kill one terrorist and capture the second one involved in the
Boston Marathon bombing.
An entire township was shut down, the
people responded and co-operated totally and within a week the
perpetrators had been traced, challenged and one captured. You may find
any number of faults with the US for its arrogance or its supercilious
manner in dealing with the rest of the world.
But when it comes
to rising as one to ensure public safety and security, they just do
it…without any fear, favour or fuss. Now this is the kind of police
force that inspires confidence. Not one which slaps protestors, or
offers bribes to the victims to shut their mouths.
Or worse,
derisively asks a middle-aged woman who goes to report her rape: “Tu
teen bachcho ki maa hei; tujhe kaun rape karenga? (You’re a mother of
three, who will rape you)?
Aizawl, Apr 25 : At least 458 non-tribals without valid Inner Line Permit (ILP) have been detained in various police stations in Mizoram after the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) launched a recent drive against them.
