HAS INDIA FAILED ITS WOMEN?

On Saturday, a Kerala man who had been acquitted in the death of two sisters, was beaten and left for dead on the road. A day before this, the four accused in the Hyderabad vet rape and murder case were shot dead in an alleged police encounter - soon after, a video of a group of young women erupting in cheers at the news went viral. The police’s actions in Hyderabad were met with widespread approval, from celebrities and politicians, too. This is not justice, a few voices said, but they were quickly drowned out. In the last week alone, a ‘sex maniac and necrophile’ was arrested in Azamgarh after he murdered a couple, raped the woman’s corpse and turned on the 10 year old daughter. Another 13 year old was raped in Kerala. Trigger-happy cops and mob justice are not things to celebrate, but when society and due process are so rooted in misogyny... Police still dither over registering complaints, as was the case with the Hyderabad vet, the immediate response seems to be, ‘What was the woman doing?’ Rape victims are still subject to the barbaric one-finger test to ascertain rape, instead of the sexual assault forensic evidence kit used in other parts of the world. Fast-track courts have totally failed their purpose. The question isn’t whether celebrating the encounter is right or wrong—it’s definitely not the norm. The question is, why are lynchmobs and fatal encounters the only avenues of justice for women, while the men so inclined continue to rape and murder without fear, asks our eminent panel?