Dying for justice

Sexual abuse of women and children in India is a national disgrace. Acts of rape continue to rise despite stringent laws (“19-year-old girl who accused Indian ruling party politician of rape hit by truck”, July 30, Gulf Today).

For decades rape victims are made to suffer twice, first by their perpetrators and then by the institutions that offer no recourse for victims, but protect abusers and try to cover up what happened using whatever means they can.

In most cases the victims have no opportunity for justice and even no opportunity to heal.

This trend is becoming more blatant now. There are those who rape with impunity and care less for consequences, because if you have the right connections there is nothing to fear.

Take for example the case of the teenager from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh who is struggling for dear life after an ‘accident’. The girl and her family have been virtually on the hit list after she said she was raped in 2017 by Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a member of the state’s legislative assembly of Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

After initial evidence in the ‘accident’ the police ruled out foul play and as the report says the director general of police in the state said that “primary probe suggests it was purely an accident due to an over-speeding truck”.

Of course it is an accident and could that also be the case in her father’s death. The father, who had brought the case to police on her behalf, died in hospital after he was beaten, allegedly by a group of men, including Sengar’s brother.

It is indeed a bizarre form of justice.

Snehal Pritam
By email