Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 27, 2002
In Half a Life, V.S. Naipaul narrates
the tale of a rich merchant plagued by domestic woes engendered by the
folly of two marriages. Approaching the hero's father, who runs a sort
of ashram, for help, he seeks to win sympathy by comparing himself with
King Dasrath who had three wives (and therefore more problems) as opposed
to his own twosome. The association enrages the hero's father, who is appalled
that the merchant should compare his life of petty lusts with that of a
monarch revered for his righteous reign; the supplicant is given an earful
before being ousted from the ashram.
A similar fury engulfed me as I
read the sickening account of the public rape of a mentally-challenged
twelve-year-old girl-child in the cramped confines of a moving train, in
the presence of five grown men who took a conscious decision to do nothing
about it. Nothing, apart from their voyeurism, that is. The reason given
was their "middle class sensibilities" (whatever that means), though insensitivity
is perhaps the more apt description.
One worthy witness was a member
of our ethically challenged elite (you guessed it - a journalist). He had
absolutely no qualms about recording a careful account of the atrocity
in first person, while excusing himself with a blasé reference to
Mahatma Gandhi's three monkeys. I was taught that the monkey business was
an admonition against idle gossip, but then, one lives and learns. Nonetheless,
try as I might, I am unable to concur that the rape could not have been
prevented, specially when I find the story accompanied with a byline and
no trace of consciousness on the part of the writer that he might be penning
a blistering self-indictment.
".I saw Salim Samsher Khan
sexually assaulting the girl."Yeh kyaa kar rahe ho. Stop it," I told Salim.
An angry Salim reminded me of the Sanskrit proverb that a person mad with
sexual desire has neither fear nor shame. "Go away. Why are you here? I
shall throw you out of the running train," he snapped. He was drunk. The
girl's screams had caught the attention of the other passengers. What we
saw left us numb. Salim had pulled the girl to the floor and was raping
her. Burdened with our middle-class sensibilities, we remained silent.
As the train slowed down at Borivli station, Salim smoothly alighted, but
only after telling the girl to keep her mouth shut. She staggered to the
nearest seat. I saw Salim striking up a conversation with someone, as if
nothing had happened. I and a fellow-passenger, Vasant Kulai, then handed
him over to the railway police"(The Times of India, 14 August 2002).
Two of the eye-witnesses slunk away
in the darkness. One does not know if they were ashamed of their acquiescence
in the crime, or if they were simply unwilling to be late for dinner and
cable television. But those who helped the police arrest the culprit offered
the lame excuse that the drunken rapist "could have done anything" (like
giving them a bloody nose or a richly-deserved punch in the jaw). They
did not once think that by engaging him physically, they could have saved
an innocent child. Even worse, they justified their complete non-action
- not even pulling the chain to stop the train - on the ground that Salim
might have escaped under the cover of darkness. They did not care that
stopping the train could have prevented the rape, hence it would not matter
so much if the accused made a getaway.
It is, therefore, entirely in the
fitness of things that the Mumbai police are refusing the buy their pathetic,
unmanly defense, as the crime could easily have been averted if even one
person had acted in time. As an official of the Borivili police station
rightly commented, "There were five grown-up men who literally stood over
the girl and watched the rape.Many things could have been done; the chain
could have been pulled, help from passengers in the next compartment could
have been sought." Additionally, a member of the staff could have been
alerted. Yet everything that could have been done was left undone, and
the tragedy allowed to unfold in all its gruesome ugliness. Surely the
nation hit a new low in unilateral moral disarmament.
It is now incumbent upon the police
to prosecute these eye-witnesses for being accessories to the crime, as
the rape of a minor is also statutory rape in which the law does not permit
or accept mitigating circumstances. It is said that the victim, a poor
mentally- challenged orphan, screamed for help but succeeded only in bringing
unholy spectators to watch over her plight. This disgusting denial of help
is surely also a denial of human rights and human dignity, and the law
would do well to look into this aspect of the tragedy.
It has been reported that the police
are registering the case under Section 376, which provides for ten years'
rigorous imprisonment. Given the poignant nature and timing of the atrocity
- on the eve of the fifty-fifth anniversary of independence - it is hoped
that the courts will try the case expeditiously, so that justice is done
and seen to be done. In fact, given the fact that crimes against women
are increasing exponentially in the country as a whole, the courts would
perform a sterling service to society if such cases are heard within a
strictly limited time-frame and stringent punishments meted out to culprits,
particularly in cases involving child abuse.
The courts also need to take cognizance
of the growing depravity in society, and the increased brutality of incidents
being reported to the police. Over the past one month, the capital has
seen horrendous instances of abduction and gang-rape of women in moving
vehicles. In one instance, a drunken youth even raped his friend's eighty-five
year old grandmother! In Mumbai, a gang of ten drunkards mutually agreed
to commit a crime and descended upon a sleeping household in the wee hours
of the morning; the groggy householder was pulled outside and held at knife-point,
while the men took turns to assault his teenaged wife. It is clear that
most of these crimes are pre-meditated - committed by men looking for 'fun'
- and it will be a sad day in our judicial history if the courts are not
sufficiently mindful of this reality.
In several instances of abuse, particularly
of young children, police investigations show that the accused is often
a known and trusted person, and could be a family member or a neighbour.
Where assault is coupled with such a grievous betrayal of trust, the punishment
needs to be appropriately harsh. We have reached a stage where even infants
in cots are not safe from sexual predators, something unheard of only two
decades ago. Another aspect not getting adequate public cognizance is the
abuse of young boys; and the offence is by no means limited to foreign
tourists and street urchins.
Finally, my most disturbing observation
is a penchant in the media to report crimes against women in an unduly
sensational manner, without sympathy. This aggravates fear and insecurity
in society, and indirectly tilts the scales in favour of predators by projecting
them as inevitable winners in their war against humanity.
