However, one thing that would never cross a sane person’s mind would be to dehumanise and shatter a woman’s body and soul, on such a solemn day.
The news of a young girl raped by a bus driver in which she had travelled to the capital city, Panjim, to party with her friends, has shocked the entire State. The incident cannot be considered as one of the many cases, but an indication of the collapse of the law and order in Goa.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
It is festive season, with the influx of tourists at its peak, the State is expected to be on high alert considering the safety of the visitors. A gruesome rape in the heart of the bustling capital is nothing less than the government turning a blind eye towards the safety and security parameters.
Adding to the shame, on Wednesday, another beastly man was arrested in Margao for raping his 16-year-old step daughter for the last six years.
Goa’s rape rate per lakh population is higher than the national average. As per the date tabled in the Goa Legislative Assembly during the monsoon session, the State had reported 71 rape cases in 2021 and 42 cases in the first six months of this year.
Wednesday’s arrest clearly indicates that the statistics released could possibly be a fraction of the monstrous reality and many more still lick their wounds in silence within their homes.
While the debate around the causes and responses have always disarrayed into wilderness, nevertheless, it is important to step back and rectify the checks and balances that have disappointed the society.
The most important of them all, the patriarchal and misogynistic ideas have to be called out and shunned, whenever someone presents them or shows the indication of implementing them. The social fabric of our State will have to be re-oriented towards recognising that women – children, young or old – are equal partners in the eco-system of human livelihood.
On the other hand, it is equally important that investigations into such gruesome crimes are carried out with utmost sincerity and mission of deriving conclusive results. The conviction rate in rape cases in India is a mere 39%, even as the states may claim to have solved more than 90% of the cases.
However, for the police to carryout effective investigations, it is also equally important to have the resources at their disposal. Our police departments are most ill equipped forces in the world with many of these do not even have dedicated women’s cell, let alone a separate Women’s Police Station, on the lines of Panjim.
After the horrific Nirbhaya case in Delhi in 2012, the legislations have been amended to strengthen the police and place stringent punishments in rape cases. But, the real litmus test of all the revisions in the rule book is the statistics, and the numbers are only on the rise. Perhaps, as one section of the society believes, the rising numbers could be the confidence in those who suffer to come forward to report.
However, our education system and academic institutions need to undergo sweeping changes to incorporate a far higher goal of equality to everyone, irrespective of their gender, origin, social and economic status, or even their political orientation and ideology.
The dialogue from the movie Pink released in 2016 stands out and summarises what every individual, young and old, male, female or other, should imbibe as human value. Amitabh Bachchan in the movie says, “These boys must realize that no ka matlab no hota hai. Usey bolne wali ladki koi parichit ho, friend ho, girlfriend ho, koi sex worker ho ya aapki apni biwi hi kyu na ho. No means no and when someone says no, you stop.” (These boys must realize that a no means no. Whether it is said by an acquaintance, or a friend, or a girlfriend, or a sex worker, or by one’s own wife, a no means no. When someone says not, you just stop)
May every child and adult pray in the words of Iqbal, “Mere Allah burai se bachana mujhko, nek jo rah ho uss rah pe chalana mujhko.”(O God, save me from the wrong, keep me on the path that is righteous)
