AS Dalits began assert ing their rightful place
in society, atrocities against them compounded. So is witnessed in the case of women. When a Dalit woman is raped by a gang of high- caste men, is threatened with MMS circulation of the entire act, the police shows its usual delay in registering the case, the victim’s father commits suicide out of shame and helplessness, residents of the village use the body of the victim’s father to get the accused arrested — all this does not tell the chronology of a crime of sex alone, which can be resolved by a court verdict.
It exposes a complex mesh of intertwined socio-cultural values and attitudes that need to be examined and understood and society has to find a way to check it by bringing about a change in the mindset at several levels. The local court has awarded the life term to four of the 10 youth alleged to have raped the 16-year-old Dalit girl of Dabra village in Hisar district in September 2012. The victim expressed fear to her life by the acquittal of the remaining six. The court gave a verdict in just 138 days is creditable, but the chain of events preceding it reflects a condemnable state of affairs. The court has also asked each of the convicts to pay Rs 27,000 each, of which Rs 1 lakh will go to the victim as compensation. Cash compensation awarded to rape victims, in a way, absolves the convicts of committing a crime with grievous socio-cultural ramifications.
Gang rapes are often driven by mob beastiality, where the sense of responsibility is defused and the culprits are not deterred by the fear of punishment. The high-caste sense of entitlement of the males in rural areas, compounded by tacit support of the police, and a sense of shame attached to the victims of crime of rape multiplies such unfortunate incidents. Therefore, change has to come at all these levels; life imprisonment for the convicts alone will not improve women’s position. |
