I know I don't generally tend to comment on the political or socio-economic happenings from India for the simple reason that I feel I may not be fully qualified to just talk about it when I don't do anything to change the scene. But recently, there has been an issue that I've personally been quite affected by. And that is the brutal gang rape of a 23 year old woman by four monsters in a moving bus in Delhi.
Delhi has always scared me by the way it treats the women. One cannot go out after eight in the evening and hope to return home with nary a scratch. There have been so many cases of sexual harassment and abuse in Delhi that sometimes I wonder whatever do the men folk of that city do other than tormenting the women.
Now this lady in question was so brutally raped that her intestines had to be almost completely removed. And her condition has gotten so critical that she's been flown to Singapore for further treatment. And in the midst of it all, the nation boils over, demanding for the strictest punishments ranging from bobbitization to death penalty. But is that really enough?
Even now, when I step out of the house in jeans, I feel certain eyes on me as I walk through the roads... eyes that strain to look through the T shirt. Eyes that try their hardest to devest me of clothing and the only thing stopping the hands that belong to those eyes is probably a thin strand of sanity and the constraints of a crowded street. But sometimes, even that does nothing to deter the wandering hand as it reaches to grope or smack some part of the feminine anatomy just because they felt like it!
I've had bitter experiences that range from silent sneers to attempted rapes. And so, these kind of news affect me greatly! And I've been praying for that girl since her story came out. But something I read today has made me wonder... are we doomed as a people?
How else am I to interpret the times when a woman who also happens to be an educated scientist claims in a public forum where people have gathered to discuss the topic of "Sensitivity towards women" and states that the rape victim should've given in to save herself?! Let me be very clear here. Rape isn't merely a sexual act. It's the gravest wrong any man can do to a woman. By committing that heinous crime, he declares to her that he is superior to her in every way .. emotionally, physically, mentally! And he does that in such brutal fashion that a part of the victim dies right then and there.
Nobody can ever empathize with a rape victim. No matter how hard they try. They've never been through the trauma that the survivor has been through. But sometimes, I think it would be wise to just shut up and not say anything if you don't have anything good to say!
Delhi has always scared me by the way it treats the women. One cannot go out after eight in the evening and hope to return home with nary a scratch. There have been so many cases of sexual harassment and abuse in Delhi that sometimes I wonder whatever do the men folk of that city do other than tormenting the women.
Now this lady in question was so brutally raped that her intestines had to be almost completely removed. And her condition has gotten so critical that she's been flown to Singapore for further treatment. And in the midst of it all, the nation boils over, demanding for the strictest punishments ranging from bobbitization to death penalty. But is that really enough?
Even now, when I step out of the house in jeans, I feel certain eyes on me as I walk through the roads... eyes that strain to look through the T shirt. Eyes that try their hardest to devest me of clothing and the only thing stopping the hands that belong to those eyes is probably a thin strand of sanity and the constraints of a crowded street. But sometimes, even that does nothing to deter the wandering hand as it reaches to grope or smack some part of the feminine anatomy just because they felt like it!
I've had bitter experiences that range from silent sneers to attempted rapes. And so, these kind of news affect me greatly! And I've been praying for that girl since her story came out. But something I read today has made me wonder... are we doomed as a people?
How else am I to interpret the times when a woman who also happens to be an educated scientist claims in a public forum where people have gathered to discuss the topic of "Sensitivity towards women" and states that the rape victim should've given in to save herself?! Let me be very clear here. Rape isn't merely a sexual act. It's the gravest wrong any man can do to a woman. By committing that heinous crime, he declares to her that he is superior to her in every way .. emotionally, physically, mentally! And he does that in such brutal fashion that a part of the victim dies right then and there.
Nobody can ever empathize with a rape victim. No matter how hard they try. They've never been through the trauma that the survivor has been through. But sometimes, I think it would be wise to just shut up and not say anything if you don't have anything good to say!
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