Scratch beneath the surface and follow the journey of Nirbhaya's parents' struggle for justice, and you will be flummoxed to find the glaring loopholes in the entire judicial process. The pain is there for everyone to see
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organised conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. Another year just passed without any result. Violence against women continues. Traumatic, inhumane, unsettling. December 29, 2012, marked the end of the fight of a brave girl, who was the victim of one of the goriest crimes ever committed, on December 16 that year.
Right there within the suave confines of the capital, a harmless couple scurrying for a transport to get back home after a late night show, hopped in on a bus. The rest was mayhem, a rape brutal enough to pierce through our conscience. It shredded apart the nation’s idea of civility; it jolted our emotions and led to a whole bunch of people erupting in protest at Jantar Mantar.
For days before and after this heart-wrenching incident, a nation jaded from the age-old pangs of patriarchy, kept on rumbling voraciously against this deed. Rallies were orchestrated; people choked their voice out, clamouring in for justice.
The media, too, like always, lapped up this incident — for it was painful yet potent enough to stir up debate and, well, generate TRPs. Such was the intensity of public agitation that justice seemed certain.
Four years down the line, a lot of water has flowed down the bridge. But justice remains elusive. Even the most recent hearing related to the case in the Supreme Court on December 14, couldn’t yield any tangible result. It seems all that smoldering anger related to cruelty against women has got stifled within the tall towers of paperwork and legal observations. Nirbhaya’s parents, on the brink of an emotional breakdown, torn between the twin pangs of knocking the doors of justice and maintaining a brave public face, feel cheated. The system had always been deaf; only this time, it was rude.
One imagines that in an age when issues related to women’s safety has become the talk of the town and when the interpretation of right to life has been expanded to include gender sensibilities, the timely disposal of such cases would have become mandatory by now. But scratch beneath this surface and follow the journey of Nirbhaya’s parents’ struggle for justice, and you will be flummoxed to find the glaring loopholes in the whole process. The trauma is there for everyone to see.
The courtrooms have always been an expensive affair in our country. The long judicial process demands patience. Nirbhaya’s parents too have experienced it. So, the media wagons packed up and went to chase another ‘touching’ story, leaving them on their own to deal with the stark realities of the judiciary. It is here that they realised that the sum of one lakh rupees to Rs 1.5 lakh was a bit much for them and the process too long to test their patience. They were lucky, for there were many kind-hearts who popped up to help.
But not many are as lucky as them. In a country as big as India, one just needs to imagine the plight of those unknown victims who cannot even think of knocking the doors of the courts to ask for justice. Even after being in the media limelight, Nirbhaya’s parents seem destined to meet with a similar fate. The law and order scenario in the national capital has been appalling. Caught between an egocentric governance tussle between ambitious authorities, the situation seems to be stuck somewhere between the age-old Scylla and Charybdis. Doomed amidst the shabby politics of opposition are the important issues of women’s safety. The perverts are out there on the prowl; targeting even little girls. The irony is that it has become way too mainstream to capture our sensibilities.
These are tough time and tough times demand tougher policy discourse. The candle-light marches and hour-long discursive seminar on gender issues would be of no use if we don’t get rid of this policy paralysis. The nation needs visionary lawmakers who think beyond rhetoric, who are ready to take enough pains to change the mindset of people as far as women’s issues are concerned. Unless and until that happens, we would keep fighting and losing the battle.
(The writer is a social scientist and general secretary of Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust, founded by Nirbhaya’s parents. Views expressed here are personal)