It is, in no way, a historic decision. No, not until the punishment for rape is re-defined. Not until they keep classifying rapes as ‘heinous’ and ‘not-so-heinous’. Not until there is a ‘rarest of rare’ clause.
As per the verdict, Death punishment is awarded under section 302 of Indian Penal Code for murder. It clearly means that, had Jyoti Singh Pandey survived to see the trial, she wouldn’t have got justice.
It took 9 months for the ‘Fast Track‘ Indian judicial system to arrive at a conclusion and punish the culprits with death penalty and award them another lease of life at the same time, just in case they appeal to the high court and then The Supreme Court of India. Oh, and not to forget their right to apply for a Mercy Petition afterwards. It won’t be anything historical until these rights are violated, just like they violated a woman.
One of the accused decided that he is bigger than the law. A suicide and many investigations later, the verdict mentions proceedings to be abated against him. The accused, Ram Singh got to decide the time and manner of death he wanted for himself. Jyoti Singh Pandey couldn’t even choose what to do with her own life.
Rarest of Rare clause is utter crap, created just so that the law doesn’t become fool-proof. After all there are many a politicians sons to help around and reap benefits. If a tharki old man serving as judge feels raping a two year old girl is not rarest of rare then that is what the crime is. Not rarest of rare, but common.
Another culprit is enjoying 3 years of paid leave. If he was old enough to rape, is he not old enough to suffer the consequences ? No, not in India. In India, he is a loved and pampered male child, who has the right to stare, sneak, eve-tease and rape.
For me, it is just an ordinary decision, which could have been affected by the upcoming elections as well, to fuel some vote-bank politics. But, this ordinary decision would sure have made some-one up above, finally rest in peace.
For women like me, there is no peace until India decides to behave and women are treated the way they deserve. Worshipping a million goddesses and picturing them naked is the rich Indian culture, I know of. There is nothing historical until victim blaming stops, until rapes are classified as heinous or not and verdicts are based on whether the victim is dead or not.
Post written for Unicef #ENDViolence Campaign
http://www.unicef.org/endviolence/
Post written for Unicef #ENDViolence Campaign
http://www.unicef.org/endviolence/
PROTSAHAN and UNICEF India sound the RED SIREN: Workshops on #ENDViolence (Child Sexual Violence) - Protsahan India Foundation
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