STOP RAPE NOW!: NO MEANS NO!

I’m enraged beyond any measures. As I seethe with anger, I shudder at the recent incident of a 23 year old girl, a girl of my age, who was pursuing physiotherapy and was gangraped by men to the extent that they ripped her body with blunt tools making it impossible for her to live. The brutality tells me that these men should be penalised with nothing less than a death sentence.

Here I was, till yesterday, cribbing and shedding tears for, now apparently “silly” aspects of life. The fury and the anger on Saumya’s blog at that time didn't make too much of a difference; yet at the same time I could connect. My mind said to me “She has voiced my thoughts. Every word there echoes the rage all us women carry within us over the rampant cases of sexual molestation and rape in Delhi". I say what Government of India has done to make us women feel secure?

In times like these there are two things that happen. One, that your mind erupts like a volcano blasting of the magma to great heights waiting to kill the victim with your own hands or better still hang them openly in front of the millions of Indian women, some who themselves have been a victim of some kind of sexual assault yet stayed mum and others who are ready to fight back for the freedom they completely deserve as a citizen of India. The other thing that you can experience is 'being numb'. Its like the defense of denial. You are hurt, shocked to the extent that no matter how much you want to detest something or scream at, your brain does not responds for 'it is in shock'. I could not help but write my fury for the cause it stood for.

I apologise if my written English does not follow the norms for my sentences are too long and not neatly packaged as the rules of grammar may prescribe. That’s not the point though.

Few weeks back I found saying to myself “It’s better that I don’t step out of home at late nights, considering the way rape cases are happening in Delhi”. Today, I believe and question “why should we women be forced to stay at home because of some sick minded people who are out on the Delhi street, roaming around like wild hounds, waiting to catch a piece of meat and tear it apart till they reach satiety?” 

We women need that safety and security that many across the world have. What Delhi has done is crumple this ‘sense of freedom’ to the extent that many of us for a number of years had taken ‘unsafe Delhi’ as a fate and something that could not be changed. As I write this today, it hurts to think how I would hide the fact from my postcrosser friends about Delhi being a ‘rape capital’ in the world ( even as I would admire the rich cultural and historical heritage of the city). Of course, as a citizen of the country, the escalating (many under the wraps) statistics on cases of sexual assaults, molestation and rape (for both Indian and foreign women) only encourage foreigners to explore countries that richer, most importantly safer.

I have to say something at this point. I recently visited Sri lanka. It’s a gorgeous country with spectacular landscapes. However what is most dazzling about the city Colombo and other parts of the country is the way men act towards women. I will comment only on the visible, for that is what I came across. No boy or man in the city ogled at a girl. Whether it was a foreigner roaming around in hot pants and spaghetti or a Sri Lankan girl wearing a dress! No lewd remarks made! While there was an instance when two young boys did look for a while at me, the stare was not bad. All it felt was two guys checking on a girl sweetly ( Ha! how it contrasts with men here in Delhi!). This makes me question if this aspect can be attributed to the 100% literacy rate in Sri Lanka or something else? I mean if India were to achieve these statistics, would men become more civilised or still act like ‘filth’?

What’s wrong with Indian men? I wonder if this question is rightly put. A country which for centuries has been venerated for its values, is that what we come down to? How hypocrite can a nation be which prides itself in the so called ‘Indian’ values on one hand and sees a massive rise in torturous cases against women in its own capital city?

I’m done with reading daily incidents of girls and women becoming a victim of rape. I thought of the girl’s boyfriend who still lives with the trauma of the incident. He is unable to empty himself of the guilt for it was he who suggested her to take the bus. The rest as we all know was a ghastly incident.

No, I don’t say all men think cheap. It’s always a few bad apples in the basket which spoil the lot that is good! It’s time we Indians adjured the Government of India to make the country a safer place for women and create measures to make the penalty for rape cases nothing less than a death punishment. The culprits need to be hanged for that is what they deserve!

I have signed the petition “Union Home Ministry, Delhi government: Set up fast-track courts to hear rape/ gangrape cases." with change.org. I urge you to do the same, if you too feel strongly about it!

It’s time we brought a change in our own country!