INDIA KNOWN AS THE RAPE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD; WHERE ARE WE GOING WRONG CULTURALLY?

The Jyoti Singh gang rape case is one such prominent rape case which still sends chills down my spine every time I read or hear about it. She was brutally raped by six men on an empty bus driven by a driver in the late hours of the night. She was returning home after watching a movie with a friend when she made the mistake of asking this particular bus boarded with drunkards for a ride. What followed is the most heinous crime scene a human being can imagine.

Her friend was beaten with a rod and left unconscious while she was penetrated by rods and abused to the point where her intestines came out. They were later thrown out of the bus on the road where they were helped and taken to the hospital. She struggled to fight for her life for twelve days until her body collapsed due to all the internal injuries and infections.

What shocked me more than the crime itself was the thinking of the criminals. After watching the documentary based on this event called India’s Daughter I was left perplexed and astonished. The psychiatrist responsible for evaluating the criminals gave the statement that they were in an enjoyment mode and their main motive was to enjoy that moment. It is the most inhumane emotion in the world to strip someone naked to the point where they are helpless and then not stop there but keep abusing them until you have crushed their soul completely. I am amazed how that girl made it alive out of the bus in the first place.

The Psychiatrist also mentioned that the rapists felt that we can enjoy because we have the courage to assault and rape her. This is where culture plays a big role as when and where does our culture allow men to abuse women so easily? The rapists had the audacity and the courage to tell the interviewer that their intention was to teach the girl a lesson of not going out late at night as girls are supposed to be at home.

The doctors predicted that she would not live more than two to three days as every system of her body had been viciously severed. Being a woman she fought for as long as she could to survive. Rape is a violent act but what accounts to actual violence is the action taken by the Indian authorities to prohibit the release of this documentary in India. This is a situation which actually creates and gives more power to rapists as the general population is not being given the chance to understand how a rapist thinks in India. I believe that it is important for us as human beings to take on the responsibility of fighting against rape as a culture and as a society.

Teaching boys from a young age that their masculinity lies in overpowering women is wrong! Teaching them that women have no substantial value other than being ornaments or creatures owned by them is wrong! Teaching them that one can abuse a woman and get away with it is wrong! As Spivak mentions in ‘Can the Subaltern speak’, “The subaltern as female cannot be heard or read.” Every woman has a voice which deserves to be heard and it is high time we start instilling that mindset in society.