I am ambivalent about the death penalty. I belive that it should exist on the statute books but used very sparingly, by the book, following the rule of law etal. But this is the rational me. When i read articles like this, somehow the rational me takes a back seat and something much more primevial takes over – something that says hang him by the b***s from the nearest tree. And, it is this feeling that scares the hell out of me.
This from today’s ToI:
An adopted girl was repeatedly raped in connivance with her foster parents by one of their relatives in New Bhangala area, police said on Wednesday.
The tenth class student, given for adoption to one Bidhi Singh a few years ago, was found to be pregnant by her father when he visited her recently, they said.
The girl’s father, a resident of Mehtabpur, said in his complaint that on inquiry he found out that Rinku nephew of Bidhi Singh used to rape his daughter, police said.
Police have registered a case.
Let me tell you what will happen. Rinku will marry the victim, to escape prosecution, – rape her every single night for the rest of her life. And the law will say – miya biwi ….. hum kya karen?
And finally, the editors at ToI really need to look at punctuation.
was found to be pregnant by her father when he visited her recently.
is different from
was found to be pregnant, by her father when he visited her recently.
The former implies that he got her pregnant, the latter that he found her pregnant !!
TOI also reports that the cabinet has cleared a Bill that proposes measures like… only women judges for rape trials, presence of a lawyer during in-camera questioning, semblance of a witness protection programme, etc.
Another positive development.
For a moment I too was confused reading what you wrote, but then later, i saw ToI and understood it all..
Its a classic paper in its own sense 😛
Do you still read that? I’d prefer reading news over the internet than go and pick up a ToI anywhere in India.. A weekly magazine is also better when compared to ToI – atleast they give the significant news and not if Madonna named her dog as this or something like this… Is this the news of ‘today’ that I spend 2 bucks for?
u know sameer – the law is fairly decent when it comes to protection of women.
the problem is with our social attitudes and societal idiocies. a raped woman is seen as a ‘kalang’ on society.
there was a fiction series on a leading private sector channel in which the main female protaganist who was raped is called dirty.
it is also assumed that if the rapist marries the victim – the stigma of rape will be wiped out. scary but true!
Hi prasoon
i actually quite enjoy reading the ToI – and it has definitely gotten a whole lot better since the DNA and HT have hit mumbai.
but, yes their editing seems to be a bit off on this article.
Hats off to renuka CHaudhary who has been a pioneer in introducing the domestic violence act. It also shows what good female politicians can do for the country. Instead of just disrupting the parliament time and again for matters that are hopeless like India’s loss in cricket against south africa, there are some women who actually get some work done. All the more reason to implement the 33% reservation for women.