Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Does Only A "Nirbhaya" Deserve Justice?

Nirbhaya's case has been fast tracked... the "juvenile" among the culprits has been let away with a mild sentence. The fury raged again, but died down soon. I guess, we all knew this was to happen. 

The fury has also died down over the Mumbai gang rape. All the men have been held, and judicious process begins. 

Meanwhile, yesterday's newspaper reports death of a rape victim, who tried committing suicide after the attack and finally succumbed. No, she wasn't a fighter! She lived in a small town in UP, she gave up all hope and was undoubtedly burdened by "guilt"--nothing remarkable about her--she's definitely no "Nirbhaya"! 

And so her story doesn't deserve more than three sentences tucked somewhere deep inside the newspaper, nor is anybody going to shout for justice for her. The online news has some details. It even makes a mention that "This is the third ghastly incident of crime against women in the past 72 hours."

You can easily note the difference in the tone of reporting: The Nirbhaya and Mumbai gang rape reports shouted their lungs out, blaming whomever they could blame, trying to creating that "impact" which they could proudly claim later. This, on the other hand, is as simple a news report as it can get--stating bare facts obtained on the regular crime beat. 

And you thought India has really woken up to rapes and such crimes against its women?