The whole of Goa has sat glued watching seedy and disgusting high society Sheena Bora murder case for the past 10 days. But it has cared very little for the rape case registered on August 19, by a distraught mother in Siolim whose daughter was raped allegedly by a teacher in her school.
The rape hasn’t moved either of the so called main political parties, nor has it – one must admit with our heads bowed down – moved the hearts of mainstream media. And our civil society, honestly, needs to do more. Barring the Aam Admi Party which has at the very least kept the issue alive, we have failed again to give justice for the little girl of Siolim as we have failed to do so for the little girl of Vasco, whose rapist roams free.
Both the rape cases have the same basic script. But at Siolim, the girl who lived in a care home, so that her breadwinner mother could work unhindered, went back to her mother and told her that if she sent her back to the school, she would never see her daughter again. The medical report, according to AAP activist, proves that she has been sexually abused. If the Vasco victim was seven, the Siolim girl is only just 10. In the typical hapless manner in which investigations are carried out, the CCTV footage was handed over seven days after the crime and the accused who has applied for anticipatory bail has not been arrested.
Meanwhile there are reports that some unidentified people have been frequenting the area near the victim’s residence forcing local village youth to set up a vigilante squad and keep a watch.
We ask, has the state completely failed us? Is there basic policing available for the people of Goa. Do criminals always have an advantage over victims of rape cases. And most importantly, doesn’t the political executive prioritise and invest in more men on the job probing and following such cases, so that this mother (in all likelihood bringing up her child on her own) can hope for coercive action which can be slight retribution. Doesn’t anyone get it that this is a ten year old we are talking about.
The failure or the unwillingness to pick up the accused for questioning will indeed make a difference between cracking this case or not. But this delay and the subsequent imperative failure to get the culprit, which stares at us in the face, will allow criminal teachers who have no place in society, to rape our daughters with impunity. The system is beyond being called incompetent. It is actually impotent.
We need to press for the following. An immediate arrest of the accused and a severe and thorough investigation to find out if he has accomplices. The probe should also look in to whether safety protocols can be strengthened (they obviously can be) and the measures that can be taken in and out of school to keep these demons out.
Almost daily, women in Goa are either raped or molested, as one lady in Usgao was, this week. There can be no argument over whether comprehensive guidelines which rigidly govern the investigation of violence against minors are needed. But it is in the implementation where the state fails all the time.
To start with, let us pledge to fight for Justice for the Siolim school girl. Or else, this will become just another police statistic.
