A perfect morning it could be, I was waking up thinking of my new ventures ahead. But, I opened my eyes listening to my friends discussing the “another brutal rape case”. As I went through the newspapers, I was jolted reading the entire piece of news detailing the rape of the “photo journalist in Mumbai”. It immediately gave me a feeling of being the vulnerable section of the society wherever I am, I never thought but I would actually search where to buy pepper sprays from.
Mumbai was considered comparatively much safer for women, as compared to the national capital. But in the recent past, there has been an alarming increase in the sexual crimes in the city. And what we now see is, people are sexually assaulting women without being threatened. As somewhere in their mind, they believe that nothing would happen to them, a case will be filed, and it will go on for years and years, ultimately relieving them for the lack of evidence. The lack of conviction in all such cases is encouraging the perpetrators to commit any crime against women as they desire.
After the brutal rape in Delhi bus last December, this Mumbai crime has sent down a chill across the country. Everyday we see newspapers flooding with some or the other gang rape, many sexual assault cases, several instances of violence against women and the latest trend being the juveniles involved in many of these. A young lawyer was raped and murdered by the building watchman in 2012. A Spanish national was raped in her flat the same year. And another recent case being of Delhi only, a young woman was gang-raped by two men in Uttam Nagar on Wednesday. They allegedly sent her husband away on the pretext of a job interview and then raped the woman at the gunpoint. In another case, a 40 year old lady was injured in acid attack. Where are we heading? What lessons is the Indian society imparting to our budding male kids? All they see around is they can freely pass on derogatory remarks to the women, they can stalk them and if they feel like they can even rape them, murder them without any fear of being convicted.
Living in an environment so conducive to crime against women, a woman in India is scared of being raped anytime. She is bound to live with this feeling her entire life, irrespective of where she is living. Be it a metropolitan city, a sub-urban area or even a village, she cannot step out after its dark, she cannot go to far off places alone, she cannot take any public transport without hesitation. When you go out in a place like Delhi, the crime capital, you always have to be decently dressed, avoid returning home late, avoid going to any place without a male accompanying you. Even when making a phone call to a new number like a property agent, a woman has to think several times if it is not inviting a possible assault for her in near future.
Why are women taught to be restrictive? Why cannot we teach our men to have some moral values. We need sensitization and a change in attitudes. Why cannot the society let a woman enjoy freedom when she is stepping out of home? A girl’s parents are always distressed when sending their daughter out for studies, or for her job or for anything. Why do we see a constant rise in the crimes everywhere in India? What are our political parties, our government and other biggies doing? if they cannot make it a better place for women. Why do they more concentrate on teaching women how to live, how to dress, how to carry themselves instead of making the public places safer for them.
There is an urgent need to bring change in the society and most importantly the laws in our country. Rapists and other accused should either be hanged in public or be sterilized, so that they realize what crime they have committed. Cases have already put the entire country to shame, and if the conviction in these cases is still not strict and sped up, then we can definitely term “Half of India as a hell for women”.
