The
anger, antagonism, outrage and collective soul searching which the country witnessed
in the wake of a young girl’s brutal gang rape in Delhi could only get
magnified by her death in a hospital in Singapore – a place, where she would
have once dreamt to serve as a doctor being a medical student. The protests started in Delhi where the
shrill and anger of the Indians who were in deep slumber until recently, could then
be heard from every ‘galli’, ‘nukkad’
and ‘muhalla.’
The
protests in major cities across the country observed men, women and children
screaming for justice and an end to the violence on women. Many
others in the social and conventional media have
added their commentary to the chorus. This isn’t necessarily the view of the
majority of Indians, but certainly represents, at the very least, a vocal
minority that is giving vent to deeply held frustrations.
But in a
country with an abysmally low
rate of convictions for rape and other crimes against women, (26% last year,
down from 46% in the 1970s) it seems to be pointless to fixate on
ratcheting up the penalty further. Consider that out of 635 cases of rape reported in Delhi this past year only one has led to a conviction. In a
country of 124 Crore Indians, the countrymen raised their voice for just one
incident. It’s perhaps understandable that people, frustrated by a failed and
unresponsive system, are looking for novel and creative solutions to tackle the
problem of violence in our society.
As
the Indian Republic heads into its 64th year, we seem to be caught between an
illiberal, insensitive government-political class and a rampaging mob demanding
instant solutions, with only a thin line separating the two. The gang rape
ought to have been understood as a complex socio-political issue, resulting as
much from bad policing as from entrenched notions of female purity and honour.
The irony which is intended
to be raised through this article is, whether Delhi – the country’s capital
should now be called as Rape Capital or Rage Capital?
