By Pallavi Venugopal
KOCHI:
The slogan #JusticeforJisha is quite familiar for almost every Keralite and it echoes across every urban and remote area in the state. The incidents that have taken place over a period of a fortnight is only suggestive that the slogan has fallen on ‘deaf ears’.The repercussions and reverberations of the incident are many but nothing ‘fruitful’ has yielded from the humanitarian acts.
The 29year old law student was brutally raped and killed in her own house. The victim’sfiercely mutilated body was found within the confinements of her house. The victim suffered stab wounds on her chest, chin, neck and back of the head. And the main cause of her death is believed to be a severe injury on the head.
Today, women constitute nearly half of the country’s 1.5 billion people. According to studies, around 63 per lakh population rate of crime happens against women. This is rather an issue of grave concern since the recent past.
The crime rates and rape cases are increasing on a daily basis. It has elevated to a level where if a crime takes place against a woman, it’s either attributed to the way she dresses or to the reason that she was out late at nightaway from her safety zone or several other dim-witted reasons.
According to the released results of a large study conducted last year involving 644 cases of rape in Kerala, the victims, three-quarters were younger than 18, the age at which people in India are legally considered adults. Studies have also shown that most of the victims are raped not by strangers, but by identifiable persons and figures in the family itself.
In 2014, 36,735 rapes were registered in India, according to the country’s National Crime Records Bureau. Another 4,234 attempts to rape were recorded. Both are categorized under Violent criminal offences; while another 132,939 sexual offences were also recorded, although they cannot give the full picture since many sexual assaults go unreported. Even when they are reported, convictions are low. Last year, 72 percent of accused rapists were acquitted and more than 85 percent of those who attempted to rape someone got away with it, according to
the Crime Records Bureau.
Why is it always unsafe for women to walk alone in the street half past 9 ? .Why hasn’t there been any accurate measures taken against these crimes that has been occurring against women? Why is the general public still not raising their voice completely against it?
The condition of women in India has always been a matter of concern since the past several centuries. Despite the advocacy of equality and oneness in the society, women in India do not enjoy equal status and opportunities as compared to their male counterparts. The patriarchal nature of Indian society, which even though gives respect to women as they are ‘mothers and sisters’, has greatly hampered both the independence as well as the safety of women.
There were many other rape cases familiar to us such as the Delhi Nirbhaya case, AarushiTalwar case, Soumya murder case and now, the Jisha case.
“People are responding to #JusticeforJisha case in different manner. They are posting “no votes till justice” slogans, setting up marches, planning strikes and protests etc. This has entirely stirred up the general public. They are raging against it in full swing” said Remya Mohan, a student of St.Teresascollege.
Drawing parallels with the Nirbhaya incident, the SFI, which led a march to the Secretariat, demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. The Delhi incident occurred in a bus, but this happened in the victim’s home, which means girls now are not even safe in the confinement of their homes.
“I am nearing 50 this year. The very fact about sitting at home alone scares me. I don’t think I am safe in my own house after the hearing the Jisha case” said SinduMadhav, a housewife placed in Kottayam.
Irrespective of how young or old women are, this is a clear cut evidence of the insecurities that women face today. The fear is rising among the population day by day due to such atrocities.
“I am not going to keep shut about this. I will react. This crime has got to stop sometime soon. They may have started it but only we can stop it” said Balambika Rajeev, a media student from ManipalInstitue of Communication, Manipal.
The ‘fairer sex’ as women are considered arenot just beautiful but bold too. In today’s world women retaliate when threatened, when their basic rights are trampled with. Women are no longer the docile, subdued kind who would sit by the fire side and let the fire alone engulf their desires and aspirations charring their self esteem.
Addressing a national Democratic Alliance rally at Palakkad, Prime Minister Modi said the state government had failed to move forward in the Jisha murder case even after over a week. The high court, while hearing a petition for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Jisha’s murder said it’s not possible to intervene in the case at this stage since the police probe is on, but cautioned the police not to get caught in the media trial.
“I feel terrible to hear the news about Jisha and I feel extremely ashamed to be called a citizen of this country because we are not able to do anything about what has happened. Everyone seems to be complaining about our law and society. We need to take some measures against such crimes. And we also have to be aware and careful of our surroundings at every point of time.
This is what I tell my daughter and son” said James John, an entrepreneur from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Additional Director General ofPolice K. Padmakumar, who is leading the team probing the case, told reporters that leads in the case made it appear as a “planned murder”. After questioning around a dozen people, police have now focused on migrant labourers, 3 of them who are in custody. Police are on the lookout for the 4 th culprit. Police on Friday also conducted raids at a few migrant labour camps in and around Perumbavoor. Now the police have embarked on the task of collecting the finger prints of men who live in the vicinity of Jisha’s residence.
“In today’s world, I don’t think it’s just the girls but even the boys are unsafe in our society. Jisha’s case is an example. But there are many more hidden stories about sexual harassment against both men and women. It’s just that we are not aware of it” said Tanya Abraham, designer at Mandir boutiques, Kochi.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi was spotted with Chief Minister OommenChamdy and the Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Monday and promised a quick end to the probe into the rape and murder of the Jisha case.
Unless stringent measures are adopted to curb these mishaps and atrocities many more such cases will follow in future.Asresponsible and concerned citizens, it is upto us to stop these kind of happenings instantaneously.
In order to reduce heinous crimes against women and children, a change in our society or the prevalent laws is not practical. Instead, a change within us and the sense in which our responsibilities are channeled is of concern. Such despicable and odious crimes should be terminated from society and the exponents of the cause of suppressing such acts budding from each individual.
People who boisterously voice their opinion to wipe out the crimes continue to be self-centered and seem to be satisfied if they have an immediate trouble free life. They seem to be embedded in a self-centered and comfortable ‘cocoon’ never to be subjected to a ‘state of flux’.
If the world does not address this issue with due importance, it stands to suppress the enormous potential of women and girls. When they feel safe, when they are empowered, women and girls can be game-changers. ‘Eye Openers’ like this, should really have a positive effect on our perspective, how we look around and view our fellow beings and be able to contribute wisely to society.
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