the recent rape in delhi has awakened the nation ( it will of course go to sleep or on a vacation during the elections ) . a lot of suggestions on how the rapists should be treated , how to prevent such rapes etc are doing the rounds .
i was amongst the first , maybe 4 years ago , when on a national tv channel i had recommended that all rapists should be castrated , and everyone including the anchor recoiled in horror ( anchors always recoil in horror if you say something that doesnt agree with them ). how can you say something so barbaric ? this is like islamic justice in the middle east , how can we , as a civilised society , even suggest that ? etc . and i was summarily shut off .
people seem to have got wiser since then . but now they are going to the other extreme . death penalty . instant death penalty . castration . the chorus increases .if anyone even feebly tries to classify a rape , he is hounded . rape is rape , they are told . but we must realize that legally for punishment rape is not rape . like murder is not murder , world over . in the u.s. there is murder of the first degree and murder of the second degree . in india there is murder and there is culpable homicide . similarly rape is not rape .
there is rape with brutal violence by many men ( like the delhi one ) , there is rape by one man ( and even without brutality ,rape is always violent . rape is a crime of violence not sex ) . then there is date rape ( where things go out of hand with a familiar person ) then there is marital rape . and then there is rape in retrospect ( like some starlets suing film directors for rape lasting for six months or more . thats the most absurd rape . by that logic every divorced woman can sue her ex husband . )
and in the punishment for rape , too , there needs to be some logic .
firstly , in spite of all the fast track courts , the culprit has to be first convicted . the police have to meticulously build a case proving that he is guilty . then , after conviction the courts have to judge which category the rape falls in ( law does not take into account emotions of protestors ) . and if death penalty is awarded then ( unless we change the entire legal process only for rapists ) , he will have a right to appeal to higher courts , and if high court confirms the death penalty , it automatically ( even without the convicts effort )goes to the supreme court and then to the president for clemency then to the home department for advice and back to the president and then in the queue with others . so if we want fast justice , castration with additional branding of the word " rapist " on his forehead is better . ( permanent humiliation is always better than death , even as a deterrent. )
and then lastly , how to prevent rapes ? brain dead suggestions like removing dark films are too dumb to comment on . deterrent is the best solution , fear of law works the best . i dont know how that can happen , but i dont feel inferior in my ignorance , because nobody knows .but lets not condemn suggestions from people who want to help . they may sound regressive to all of us urban elite , but they may have a local , small town relevance . if a person says that little girls shouldnt wear skirts as uniform , he may have a locally relevant view . lot of girls dont know how to sit and they may be exposing themselves to perverts . we dont know in our ivory towers . " hum kapde nahin badlenge , aap soch badlo " sounds great as a slogan . but i have spent over 25 years in communications business and i know that changing mindsets takes decades of education ( and thats in educated urbanites ) . are we going to wait till the mind set changes after 40 years and people learn to respect women . and till then watch little girls getting raped because " soch nahin badli " ? lets get real , rhetoric doesnt solve problems .
i am a great champion of not only equality but of superiority of women . and i have proved that time and again through my advertising campaigns and interactions with people . but as a student of sociology and anthropology , i know that dress codes differ in different societies . so if someone in a small town says girls should cover themselves , or if a principal in a college asks students not to wear tight t shirts or low slung jeans , lets not hound them as sexist regressive .they are trying to help in their own way , in a way they feel may help . they are on the side of the women , not against them .
personally i feel , women should dress as they please . but then why dont i see girls in two piece bikinis at the wankhede stadium or at kotla , watching a cricket match ? i see similarly dressed women in Australia or new zealand watching cricket .
i was amongst the first , maybe 4 years ago , when on a national tv channel i had recommended that all rapists should be castrated , and everyone including the anchor recoiled in horror ( anchors always recoil in horror if you say something that doesnt agree with them ). how can you say something so barbaric ? this is like islamic justice in the middle east , how can we , as a civilised society , even suggest that ? etc . and i was summarily shut off .
people seem to have got wiser since then . but now they are going to the other extreme . death penalty . instant death penalty . castration . the chorus increases .if anyone even feebly tries to classify a rape , he is hounded . rape is rape , they are told . but we must realize that legally for punishment rape is not rape . like murder is not murder , world over . in the u.s. there is murder of the first degree and murder of the second degree . in india there is murder and there is culpable homicide . similarly rape is not rape .
there is rape with brutal violence by many men ( like the delhi one ) , there is rape by one man ( and even without brutality ,rape is always violent . rape is a crime of violence not sex ) . then there is date rape ( where things go out of hand with a familiar person ) then there is marital rape . and then there is rape in retrospect ( like some starlets suing film directors for rape lasting for six months or more . thats the most absurd rape . by that logic every divorced woman can sue her ex husband . )
and in the punishment for rape , too , there needs to be some logic .
firstly , in spite of all the fast track courts , the culprit has to be first convicted . the police have to meticulously build a case proving that he is guilty . then , after conviction the courts have to judge which category the rape falls in ( law does not take into account emotions of protestors ) . and if death penalty is awarded then ( unless we change the entire legal process only for rapists ) , he will have a right to appeal to higher courts , and if high court confirms the death penalty , it automatically ( even without the convicts effort )goes to the supreme court and then to the president for clemency then to the home department for advice and back to the president and then in the queue with others . so if we want fast justice , castration with additional branding of the word " rapist " on his forehead is better . ( permanent humiliation is always better than death , even as a deterrent. )
and then lastly , how to prevent rapes ? brain dead suggestions like removing dark films are too dumb to comment on . deterrent is the best solution , fear of law works the best . i dont know how that can happen , but i dont feel inferior in my ignorance , because nobody knows .but lets not condemn suggestions from people who want to help . they may sound regressive to all of us urban elite , but they may have a local , small town relevance . if a person says that little girls shouldnt wear skirts as uniform , he may have a locally relevant view . lot of girls dont know how to sit and they may be exposing themselves to perverts . we dont know in our ivory towers . " hum kapde nahin badlenge , aap soch badlo " sounds great as a slogan . but i have spent over 25 years in communications business and i know that changing mindsets takes decades of education ( and thats in educated urbanites ) . are we going to wait till the mind set changes after 40 years and people learn to respect women . and till then watch little girls getting raped because " soch nahin badli " ? lets get real , rhetoric doesnt solve problems .
i am a great champion of not only equality but of superiority of women . and i have proved that time and again through my advertising campaigns and interactions with people . but as a student of sociology and anthropology , i know that dress codes differ in different societies . so if someone in a small town says girls should cover themselves , or if a principal in a college asks students not to wear tight t shirts or low slung jeans , lets not hound them as sexist regressive .they are trying to help in their own way , in a way they feel may help . they are on the side of the women , not against them .
personally i feel , women should dress as they please . but then why dont i see girls in two piece bikinis at the wankhede stadium or at kotla , watching a cricket match ? i see similarly dressed women in Australia or new zealand watching cricket .
