In a small town near Jammu, 8-year-old Asifa was grazing her horses. As dusk fell, the horses returned home without Asifa. Worried parents searched frantically, but found nothing; little Asifa was nowhere to be found.
Asifa turned up a week later, as a battered corpse.
She had been sedated and gang raped, repeatedly. By a Priest, a Police Officer, and their friends. 8 grown men in all. Inside a Temple. In front of the deity.
After they were done with her, these men strangled her, crushed her head with a rock, and threw her body into the forest.
If just reading about it can make us feel sick, imagine Asifa’s Parents’ state of mind. We can’t even begin to imagine what the little child went through during that one week of torture, even as the Gods in the temple watched mutely.
Even as undercurrents of shock and rage run through the country, those in power remain silent about this incident. So far, there has been no news about the perpetrators being caught and jailed. In fact, I read about people supporting them, turning this incident into a communal issue.
When the Nirbhaya incident occurred, a similar wave of rage followed. Our law gave us hope by arresting the gang of rapists, and then let us down by releasing the juvenile, citing his age as the reason, even though he was supposedly the most brutal rapist.
You know what is scarier than being eve-teased and being treated inappropriately at home and professionally? The fact that we women have accepted it as part of our life. Share on XWhat is this country coming to?
At an age when children should be discovering the world, they are being taught to differentiate between ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch ‘.
Schools are not safe anymore. Nor are homes and neighbourhoods.
No age is safe anymore either. You could be 2 months old or 80 years old; if you are a female, you can be raped.
Are our lives worth nothing, is what we women in India ask ourselves often. Share on XWhy do men commit these atrocities?
Because they can.
Because they know that if their ‘connections’ don’t get them out, our lax laws will. Because none of them faces the consequences of the dastardly acts they commit. Because seeing these perverts/pedophiles/criminals get away with the crimes they commit makes other men with similar mindsets hopeful of committing the act and getting away with it.
And they do.
It is time our country wakes up and starts a change. It is time we women are valued and given our due, whether it is respect or justice. Share on XName the perpetrators, and splash their faces across the media. Shame them and shame their families. Let justice be swift and severe so that there are no more Asifas whom we read about and regret not helping.
If our Law isn’t working, as it obviously isn’t, and the people in power are incapable of taking decisions they should be taking, isn’t it time to introduce Capital Punishment?
When the system fails, women must become the system. Not with fear, but with fire. Not with silence, but with solidarity. For if we do not take matters into our own hands, there will be more Asifas, and that is a future we refuse to accept.
this is bringing me jitters.
Its a society of barbarians and not humans. The animals are far more civilised than us. Its a shame that our daughters are not safe.
And we thought foeticide was gruesome. we have set a new low and it is lower than hell itself. Hope they all burn in it and set an example for the rest.
Sigh!!! The pain is immense in each one of us. THe prime reason such incidents repeatedly happen is bcause our law enforcements are extremely poor!!!
I cant imagine the plight of that Asifa, my blood boils reading about it. We need some strong rules for such people
Nothing changes. Hence, nothing changes.