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A 15-year-old girl in UP was allegedly gang-raped, brutalized and strangled before being abandoned after perpetrators presumed she is dead!
Trigger Warning: Rape, Violence, Murder attempt.
Even as the world came together less than a week ago to recognize and celebrate International Women’s Day, we woke up to an utterly distressing piece of news in the paper this morning. The title was enough to shake me out of any idealistic stupor that the entire Women’s Day mood had temporarily brought on.
A young girl had been raped and beaten to within an inch of her life in one of the country’s most populated cities, a city that also boasts of being a prime travel destination. Shaking my head in distress, I wondered.
After everything we’ve seen, everything we’ve learnt over the years, how could I have been naïve enough, stupid enough to forget, even for a day?
As usual, the details of the article were even more disturbing. “Multiple wounds….brutally raped…throttled…left to die!”
Enough to make me want to throw up as I tried to fathom how this girl could have even survived such an ordeal. Then, over the next couple of hours, the initial feeling of shock abated, admittedly giving way to a hopelessness, a feeling of futility.
It must have been the realization that despite all the work, all the noise, the outrage, despite everything, these crimes were still rampant. Then, of course, the anger took over as it should. Seething, I wondered; How could they hurt her? Why did they do it? When will this country be safe for women?
Why are we women being targeted with such heinous crimes?
I have, in fact, written about this before as well. Why is the need, the desire to hurt, to silence, to destroy, and so much more when the victim of a crime is a woman?
It’s as though anything, or even everything, she does, is enough to bring on a sort of inhuman rage in her tormentors, a rage that makes them want to silence her, once and for all.
How dare she fight back?
How dare she assert her rights on her own body?
How dare she not accept the supremacy of the perpetrators of a crime that is so heinous that it is difficult to imagine how she even lived through it! Call it what you will, but this truly is the reality of this horrific situation.
A mindset, a sick mindset that wants to hurt, crush and destroy someone simply because she happens to be a woman.
We all know that every time something like this happens, a bleakness, an exhaustion takes over. But despite the feeling of exhaustion, despite the hopelessness, despite everything, we have to keep at it.
We have to keep expressing anger, we have to keep getting shocked, and we have to keep fighting. We can’t afford to forget or give up. There’s no time or place for short memories.
No way. No more.
This is an ongoing story, the article will be updated with further development in the case. Till 13-2-203, 8 am, the accused in this case have been taken into police custody.
Image source: kckate16, from Joopiko, free and edited on CanvaPro
Rrashima is a senior corporate analyst with over 20 years of experience in the corporate sector. She is also a prolific writer, novelist and poet and her articles, stories and poems are regularly published in read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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