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(On the 4th anniversary of the Nirbhaya case, we are still a long away from creating a safe space for women. A set of recent incidents involving gruesome rapes of women across the country has yet again raised several questions about the Indian society and the judiciary. We at The Quint believe that a rape survivor’s life doesn’t end when she is raped. And that even if our institutions – law, the judiciary, the hospitals – are failing a rape survivor, we as a society need to step up. And keep the fight going. We are publishing this article originally published on 24 July 2016 from The Quint’s archives as part of our #FightingRape campaign.)
Rape is not simply a violation of the body or an act of sexual gratification. Of course it’s not, and if I were to harp on this any further, I would only be adding yet another voice to an already far advanced discourse about this most barbaric and condemnable act.
Instead, let’s talk about those close to the victims; those who may have not been subjected to the act physically, but have suffered the reality of a loved one being put through it.
The Kiran Negi gangrape happened in 2012 when a 19-year-old was abducted from Delhi, gangraped by three men and left to bleed to death in mustard fields in Haryana. She was found on the fourth day and was alive until just a few hours before she was found, according to her post-mortem report. For three days, Kiran Negi bled to death. For three days the police failed Kunwar Singh Negi, the father desperately looking for his daughter.
When Kiran’s body was found, it was discovered that the accused had poured acid in her eyes and pushed a broken liquor bottle in her vagina – acts savage enough to induce goosebumps just by writing or reading about them. This was real violence which happened to a real person. This is not stuff of a slasher film or a gore novel.
Kiran’s case is still pending in the Supreme Court, the fight for justice being spearheaded by her father. Right before I spoke to him, I pondered for a good while over what could I possibly ask him. How does one talk about the rape and mutilation of a girl with her own father? What aspects does one address and what does one leave out?
Commenting on the effect it had on his family, Singh says he has asked his two younger kids, a son and a daughter, to only concentrate on their studies and nothing else.
Struggling with what we could assume to be shock and depression, Singh said she is better now than she used to be four years ago.
Referring to 9 February, the day of the crime, he says every year in February they disavow the existence of the day.
When Singh was asked who he had to turn to in the family’s moment of despair, who was it that he could look to for help, he said:
Earlier this year in April, a man chopped off the hands of a 17-year-old boy who had allegedly raped his eight-month-old daughter.
Dr Bhagat comments on the anger those close to the victim experience in the following manner:
The rape of a 30-year-old law student from Kerala in April has been one of the most barbaric cases. Jisha was raped by a neighbour in her house, who brutalised and mutilated her body.
However, the narrative that her mother had to offer was an even more heart-wringing one. The mother refused to believe what had happened to Jisha and even after her death, continued making statements like:
Dr Bhagat says:
There is a need to initiate this dialogue. Families of victims are often subjected to ridicule and discrimination, and we still have a long way to go in changing this. Every rape is not merely an act of sexual perversion or a desperate assertion of power, but also a reflection of a cankerous society.
Even though India as a country lacks efficient infrastructure for counselling and other psychological help for victims and their families, there are several organisations working for women and violence against them that can be approached.
There will not be a bright morning one fine day when rapes will end. The perpetrators and rape culture have to be consciously fought, on every level. From our ideologies, to perception of gender identities, to caste politics and power dynamics – every issue has to be dragged out into the open and analysed in excruciating detail. This, coupled with sincere action, seems to be one of the solutions. This struggle began a long time ago and it’s time to see it through to its end. #KeepFighting
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Published: 22 Jul 2016,05:42 PM IST