Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji ponders over the increasing number of rape cases across the country and tries to understand what has been causing this rising trend
The recent incident of the kidnapping, assault and brutal gangrape of a female student in southern India, considered to be safest for women, has jolted the entire nation and has once again raised the issue of women security in a country that is best known for its rich cultural heritage, where women are worshipped in the form of goddesses. As per a report by NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) for 2019, around 32,033 rape cases were registered across the country in that year, which is an average of 88 daily cases. Surprisingly, in 94.2 per cent of cases (30,165), rapes were committed by perpetrators known to the victim. The proliferation of such heinous, barbaric acts has intensified the wave of insecurity among women. Hence, women organisations across the country, and state governments, have asked the police for greater patrolling and vigilance on roads at night and those organisations, whose women employees are dropped back after night shifts, have been instructed to ensure proper measures for their safety, including placing guards in each office cab. Though such measures may help to an extent, they do not hit at the root cause. Several female employees feel that finding clusters of policemen on roads or guards inside their cabs is as uncomfortable as being driven alone at night. Thinking that increasing police vigilance will prevent incidents of crime is akin to hoping that training more doctors will eradicate diseases from the country.
People had a hope that after the passing of the important anti-rape law by parliament, the rate of sexual crimes would come down; however, nothing much has changed. Rapes by gangs of young men have continued with a disturbing frequency, even though the men convicted in the Nirbhaya case were given death sentences by the court. The reasons behind these cases are wide-ranging, but one thing is clear that there is still a widespread sense of impunity among aggressors as they feel that they won’t get caught and neither would victims say anything as Indian women can’t come out in the open about such things. The fundamental question however still remains unanswered — what leads a person to commit rape in the first place? Surely something is lacking in the mental and moral makeup of a rapist — the thing/ thought process that prevents other honest, upright people from even imagining such an act. Firstly, it needs to be understood that a rapist does not certainly look upon women in the same way as other people do. Hence, their modesty, honour and dignity would hardly concern him. Rather, such a person regards women as mere objects of sexual gratification. It is because of this evil attitude, that the occurrence of rape cases are increasing in the country. Proof of the same can be found everywhere — be it on visual platforms, print platforms and in the pervert language and behaviour of men in public places, which our mothers and sisters have to tolerate daily.
Of late, there has been a trend of incorporating provocative material in anything and everything. At a casual glance, these kinds of material appear overtly harmless but carry subtle, cleverly crafted subliminal messages that seep into the psyche of people of all age groups who consume them day in and out, thereby promoting a culture of promiscuity. That is why in many recent cases of gang rape, juveniles are among the accused. Since these images and videos are everywhere, it is making more and more people regard them as normal. In fact, those who try to oppose them are seen as old-fashioned and prudish. Nowadays, youngsters consider it ‘cool’ to use vocabulary which was once considered indecent and disrespectful towards women. Hence, it can be easily said that the growing cases of criminal assault on women are nothing but the fruit of the seeds of moral degeneration that are being sown by these vulgar images that are being transported through various mediums. So, unless we fully realise the extent of damage that is being done to our society by this vulgarity, which is fast becoming a norm, we may soon reach a point of no return. Then, no woman will be safe in our cities, by day or night.