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CBI finally does the right thing by filing a chargesheet against the upper caste perpetrators of the Hathras gangrape and murder of a Dalit woman. What about the police?
The gruesome gang rape that took place in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh has yet again made it to the headlines. The case was followed by a huge country-wide approach demanding justice for the victim.
A 20-year-old Dalit woman was gang raped and killed by 4 upper caste men in Hathras. The police and the administration were bent upon closing the case, and thus cremated the victim against the wishes of her family.
Nearly three months after the incident, the CBI has finally confirmed that the victim was gang raped, tortured and killed by the 4 accused. The CBI has also filed a report against the accused under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The CBI has filed its charge sheet in this case at the Hathras Court which is some 200 kms away from Delhi.
The Dalit woman was brutally gang raped by 4 upper caste men, mutilated, and was left to die. When she was finally taken to a hospital in Delhi, she passed away. The police and the state administration was bent to close the case as soon as possible and thus arranged for a cremation without the approval and the wishes of the family members.
Despite the case being so simple and clear, the accused has still appealed to the court for ‘justice’, and alleged that they have been falsely accused in the case.
The police should also be seen as one of the accused in this case. When the force which has been deployed for the safety and security of the people becomes the instrument of the upper castes, justice eludes the ordinary citizens. To clean its own image, the police had said that it had cremated the girl as per the wishes of the family, but we have all seen images of the grieving parents being held in captivity circulating on the social media.
While the CBI’s charge sheet is a step towards justice and equality, the deliverance of justice is still incomplete. The family who suffered because of the unequal social conditions and patriarchy of the Indian society, still waits for justice. Although the CBI has filed its charge sheet, the court has given 27th January as its date of hearing. How many hearings after this, no one knows.
What needs to be seen is that whether this case sets a precedent for deterring crimes in the future or gets lost among the various pending cases of crime and hostility. We are all aware of the condition of the fast-track courts put into place after the Delhi gangrape case and are also equally aware of the increasing acts of violence against women.
The question thus arises, whether this CBI charge sheet will get the victim her due share of justice?
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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