How Mother India treats her daughters

A five year old child! How can one find a five year old child even remotely sexually attractive? It gives me the shivers…. just to think about it. I read somewhere that people who commit such heinous and unspeakable crimes are often normal seeming and not obviously psychotic as one would assume. This is a very worrying thought cos it means there are people among us … colleagues, friends, acquaintances, people we pass on the streets…. who may, if given the opportunity, turn into monsters.

My heart goes out to the little girl in Delhi who became a victim of such monsters… and who will carry the unimaginable scar of her harrowing experience for the rest of her life.

But how many other Gudiyas have been victims of such crimes in our country and how many such similar incidents go unreported? The truth is, our Indian society, in spite of all the diversities in terms of race, caste and creed, have one thing in common and that is, the way we treat our women and girls. Thousands, if not millions of girls and women, suffer various kinds of atrocities at the hands of their fathers, brothers, husbands, neighbours, classmates, teachers etc.  

Ours is a country where women are burnt for not bringing the desired dowry. In many parts of the country, women still do not have any say in who they want to marry or how they want to live their lives. Even in the big cities, women, especially those perceived as defenceless or easy prey like those from the North east, are frequently molested and raped.

Yes, there are changes. The media is taking a more proactive role in highlighting these cases. The government and its organs like the police are becoming more sensitized and are making positive noises. The people, like in the cases of Nirbhaya and Gudiya, are also taking their anger out into the streets, which is good because it shows that many of us have had enough and wish to see some changes.

However, I feel that what we need is a huge attitudinal change cutting across all classes and regions. This change should come from inside. I dream of an India where girls may form a rock band and play at concerts anywhere without inviting fatwas; an India where they can love and marry anyone regardless of caste or creed without being ‘honourably’ murdered by her own brothers or fathers.

The hallmark of a truly civilised society is the freedom and liberty granted to the members of the fairer sex. It is clearly evident that we still have a long way to go.