The Rape Survivor
The Centre has instituted death penalty for raping children under 12 years of age. This may give rise to questions like: why only for children under 12 years of age or raise doubts on capital punishment itself. However, the character I want to draw your attention to is the rape survivor, who I seldom see amidst all these popular discussions.
What would be the ideal post rape scenario? The survivor reports the rape, the accused is caught and put before trial. If proven guilty, he/she is punished as per law.
Now why does this ideal post rape scenario not take place? Because in most cases, the rape goes unreported. Why? The survivor (usually a woman) is scared about her image in society. In most cases, this is because it would be an open announcement of loss of virginity often accompanied by a loss of character. This could then result in the girl not getting married and becoming a symbol of shame for her family.
I find it difficult to believe that changing punishment from more than a decade in prison to death penalty will help curb rapes. If it were so, why would the accused in the Nirbhaya rape case commit suicide? It is difficult to believe that a potential rapist may abandon the thought if there is death penalty associated with it but around a decade in prison chalta hai.
If we as a society (& if the law can help us there) fight the hype regarding virginity, it may empower the rape survivors to report the crime and fight it through. If only the angry mob wasn’t debating on what would be the cruelest form of punishment, forgetting about the survivor who remains hidden inside her houses living a nightmare all by herself.
How often have we lit our candles for rape survivors? Both Nirbhaya and Asifa were murdered, would we know about them if they weren’t? Would we march for them if they weren’t? Are we then marching against rape or only rape leading to murder?
