Buzzing Blogosphere – Women, Law and Nirbhaya Case

December 16, 2012 was a Black Day for India, the day when Jyoti Singh was brutally raped and left to die on the streets of Delhi. The last few days have served to gnaw at the wounds suffered by Jyoti’s family, which were just about getting better. On December 20th, the juvenile accused of the case was set free after serving his sentence of 3 years. This development has come in the midst of protests by Jyoti’s family and many others protesting against this judgment, with reports of the accused not showing any remorse making their way to newspapers. There is an increasing demand to change the laws to try juveniles as adults when it comes to serious crimes.

Jyoti Singh, aka Nirbhaya, the name whose story of bravery jolted the entire country into action and galvanized us to express our opinion, has once again come to the fore because of this judgment. Let’s take a look at what bloggers are saying about the release of the juvenile accused.

Ayushman Jamwal talks about how India continues its fight against crimes against women. He explains that a crime is alive simply because of the criminal. While time and again humanity has been put to test, the only solution is to make sure the accused are punished for what they are due.

“’Show me the true face of evil, to strengthen my resolve to vanquish it’, is a philosophy that has been enshrined in every righteous struggle across the world. Humanity has endured evil for centuries because time and again we mustered the courage to confront the demons that live among us. Similar to a cancer, they cannot be reasoned with and are pure with their intent. They have been put down and destroyed in the past and humanity has been better for it. India’s Daughter has exposed another demon to us. His testimony spits in the face of our justice system and every parent, man and woman in India. There are some moments where vengeance, justice and humanity all converge and we must be wise to understand it. Nourish and reward our faith in justice- that is all the Indian people ask for.”

Sonal Bawa writes a post on how justice died once again because of a verdict that added more insult to the injury.

“It’s a shame when the one institution you rely on the most fails you and that too at a time when you’re hurting or going through the biggest trauma of your life. That is what Nirbhaya’s parents must be going through after the mind numbing verdict by the High Court of India, the second biggest institution of justice in the country (after the Supreme Court). In a shocking turn of events, which did shake the entire nation, the juvenile or rather the main accused in the Nirbhaya Rape case is set to be freed in a day or so and to add insult to injury, the government will help reinstate him by opening him a tailoring shop. I understand that as per the law a juvenile if found guilty would be sent to serve time for three years in a correction or remand home and once that period is over, he’ll be set free. Along with that I also understand and respect the fact that law is for everyone irrespective of their age, color, cast or even sex, but what I don’t understand is that why is the government trying to help reinstate a person guilty of such a heinous crime; why can’t he be awarded the maximum punishment and why is the law making things so hard for not only the girl’s parents and many people who have daughters? So if I’ve got it correctly, in the world’s so called BIGGEST democracy, a boy (Juvenile to be precise) can without fear go on a raping spree, get arrested, spend some time in a correction home and then not only does he get to walk free, but the government helps settle him…. I too like a lot of Indians in and outside of India am unable to come to terms with this fact and don’t know whether to laugh at a system that screams out STUPIDITY or to hang my head in shame when asked by non-Indians/foreigners what does justice or law mean to the one nation that cried out aloud when it was under the British rule or when anything like the terror attacks rocked it’s very foundation.”

Abhinav Sekhri takes an important point in discussion in his post. India faces a problem of law enforcement. While the year 2012 saw historic protests throughout the country, we failed in changing laws to further the case of women’s safety. Merely announcing a verdict can never be a solution. It is only by implementing laws strictly can we think of making any positive changes.

“Between 2012 and 2015, little or no movement occurred outside of these verbal sparring battles. One slew of amendments was passed with clear hues of populist dementia (introduce the death sentence for an offence to make everyone think it’s serious now, while they’ve forgotten the problem really was enforcement). Juvenile policy was worse. In 2012, there was a movement to change the law making 16 year olds responsible. It was reviewed by the Law Commission and the Supreme Court. Both concluded that the shift was possible if there was some scientific data to support the theory that 16 year olds understood ideas of responsibility. Populism alone was rejected as a basis for legislation. What happened between the three years? You guessed it. There was one Bill introduced, no scientific study conducted, and in fact no verbal sparring also. Callous statements only began to emerge closer to the Day of Reckoning. Reports with dubious credibility surfaced with the media showing no remorse. The Ruling Party blamed the Opposition for stalling its reforms (cue, applause). For good effect, they brought in ISIS! Because terrorism and sex offenders are perhaps the only things that get our public opinion really moving.”

Kirtida Gautam  expresses shock over the SC judgment. Times have been tough and this day is difficult to absorb for any Indian. Is that really what law is talking about? Even if he should be excused as a juvenile, should he be set free with Rs. 10,000?  talks about December 20th as being a day when Indians failed at delivering justice to Jyoti. A crime needs to be seen in totality and as the accused turns 20 he understands the crime enough to be put behind bars. he surely is not liable to get Rs. 10,000 to earn his living.

“Today is not the day we demanded the law to be changed and the juvenile offender to be treated like an adult in a crime as severe as rape. The youth of India was on streets demanding the juvenile to be waived to adult court in Nirbhaya rape case, but our voices were not heard, our demands were crushed.  Before the release of juvenile of Nirbhaya rape case, we just reminded the government that the justice was not served. But now the law-makers and government officials can easily say that he has already served his punishment and can’t be charged again. What about the fact that he was never charged fairly at the first place.

A man who raped and killed a 23 year old girl is walking free on the streets of our country with 10K in his pocket. He might be looking at your daughter tomorrow. Even if he won’t, the girl who is no more with us might be looking from the heaven at the person who killed her and thinking that I could have been walking on those streets, If only he wouldn’t have taken my life away.

I can’t sleep… it’s suffocating…how the women and children are getting raped every minute in our country and the officials of government are just looking at the law books and protecting the criminals instead of creating an environment where the fear of punishment in criminals is greater than the fear of the criminals in our society.”

Komal Panwar who writes for Jaipur Women Blog talks about the other side of the story. While the accused was a juvenile at the time of the crime, it does not rule out the fact that children can easily be brainwashed and manipulated. We live in a society that is complex and hence the judgements matter for each life. Komal flips the side of the accused to see a better side.  She explores a possibility of him given another chance as children are easy to brainwash in the heat of the moment.

“The crime he committed is way beyond our cruelest imagination. Letting him go means that we have forgiven him for what he has done, and I don’t think he deserves it.

Ganguly estimates three kinds of juvenile offenders – The first is the largest of all three categories. Since the age of consent in India, 18, is much higher than the age of puberty, these are under-18 boys found having sex with under-18 girls, and parents typically file kidnapping and rape charges.

The second category is that of children who commit crimes in the spur of the moment.

She remembers another story of a 12-year-old domestic worker employed by an elderly couple in south Delhi against child labour laws, who murdered the couple. When asked why he committed the crime, he said that they would keep him hungry to make him do work. One night, it was midnight and he wasn’t yet given food, and the elderly woman was scolding him for something. He pushed her and she fell unconscious. He got scared when the old man saw this, and managed to kill them both.

Now, the question is, could he be the third kind?

The third kind, however, are the repeat offenders. They are the children who live on the streets, and have committed a crime more than once.”

Sneha Rajaram takes on a very critical aspect of the case. Although taking names of rape victims in media is not allowed, Jyoti’s parents have been strong enough to publicly address their daughter by her name and asked the media too to do the same. Yet the media refuses to abide by it. Is the media refusing to give Jyoti her place in history as a braveheart by not mentioning her real name?
“Yes, the law prohibiting the media from mentioning a rape victim’s name is fantastic (though not always followed). But when a victim, or her family, wants to reveal her name and the media refuses to call her by it – that’s a different story.

The late Jyoti Singh Pandey’s parents have been publicly using her name since 2013, have told us they want her name published. And yet the media insists on calling her Nirbhaya. This week, on the third anniversary of the gangrape that led to the Criminal Amendment Law Act of 2013, her mother Asha Devi told the media:

“My daughter’s name was Jyoti Singh and I am not ashamed to name her. Those who commit heinous crimes like rape, their heads should hang in shame, not the victims or their families. You should take her name too.”

This isn’t the first time either. In January 2013, not even a month after his daughter was gangraped and tortured, Jyoti Singh’s father told the UK media her name, saying,

“We want the world to know her real name…My daughter didn’t do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself…I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter.”

Why does the media insist on calling Jyoti Singh “Nirbhaya” then? Has “Nirbhaya” become a brand that we don’t want to let go of, despite her parents’ wishes? Are we, the media, too satisfied with the story that weaves itself around a name that means “fearless”?”

 

Samar takes on the perspective of society for women in general. He expresses anguish and disappointment in the manner in which the judgement was passed to let the accused be free.He talks about how women are bound with typical issues regarding their body, purity and caste.

“Highly insensitive handling of complainants and victims by law enforcement agencies and fear of further reprisals from the perpetrators and their accomplices adds to this and increases underreporting. The victim, here, means every victim – be it Nirbhaya or the seven year old battling for her life in AIIMS or Thangjam Manorama who was brutally tortured and killed by Assam Rifles personnel of the Assam Rifles – as established by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice (retd.) C. Upendra Singh.

The malaise of such crimes will continue until Indian justice institutions ensure that victims can seek redress and justice as their right and perpetrators get punished without needing a public “outrage”. Add to this the fact that most of the victims even from “mainstream” India do not see Indians “outraging” for them, forget those like Thangjam Manorama caught in the dozens of the faultiness that divide the Republic. In fact, even a rank stranger following events in India can vouchsafe that many of the ones outraged for Nirbhaya would be equally, if not more ferociously, outraged, if Manorama’s perpetrators were brought to book!

Back to the case at hand: the NCRB also shows that 1,25,433 cases of rape were awaiting trial in 2014, out of which 90,000 cases were pending from previous years. Can a people outrage for justice in so many cases? Should it mean no justice to the victims, if the people cannot outrage on and on?”

Alok Mishra evaluates the situation, speaking on how urgently we need a Juvenile law in place to ensure that there is fear among people for deadly crimes like rapes and murders. More precisely, a punishment is imperative to make them understand that what they have done is wrong and dangerous not just morally but also socially.

“Juvenile Crime : Why we need the law?

Not only justice will be done, but also, a strong message will go to all those underage! They will fear before thinking of such a heinous act. Rape; rape; rape; rape and rape! Daily we listen in the TV news; read in the newspapers; listen from our friends and come to know via other sources, and some of them are committed by these so called misguided youths. A girl is raped; juvenile is sent to be ‘reformed’ and gets released once our judiciary system thinks he has been ‘reformed’ enough to continue in the civil (really? Are we civil?) society. Is this the justice delivered? I ask you all today. We helplessly and hopelessly need a strong low to ensure that howsoever be the rapist, whatsoever be his age and mental condition, should be punished. If his mental state or age can allow him to rape, what makes our law so low that it cannot punish the person? Why the advocates and judges of this intolerant nation become so much tolerant that they digest such a crime without securing a strong punishment?”

Vyankatesh talks about how the law has failed. How it failed to recognise a crime, justice for women and how it has set a shameful example for the current generation who will think it is okay to rape a women as the law can turn to your side.

“The Supreme Court convened later on Monday and refused to stay the release of the criminal.

“We share your concern but our hands are tied by the existing law. There has to be clear legislative sanction to extend the detention period beyond 3 years. Under the present law, detention cannot be extended beyond three years,” the Supreme Court of India said.

This has left the onus on the law makers, our very own elected political leaders, to amend the law. They did not act on this urgent and important matter for the past 3 years, resulting in this shameful situation.

Why are we so hard? Why do we refuse to give these important matters the importance they deserve? Why do we refuse to leave a legacy which will stand in good stead for generations to come? Why do we just go with the status quo?

Why is our law so lethargic? Aren’t we eager to give safe streets, safe cities, and a safe country to our women and our people?

Why are we bounded by laws which were designed in medieval times? Why do we refuse to learn? Why do we refuse to adapt and improve?

As I walked home on Friday, I was hanging my head in shame, seeing the state of affairs in the matter.

India has failed a generation of women.

Today, the ghastly criminal is free. Once again, women across the country are not safe, because a criminal is lurking in the shadows.

Women crimes and laws in India at contradicting at highest levels in the current times. Every case seems to raise serious questions on our system of serving justice. As a society there is a lot more that is left undone. If you feel like sharing your views and opinions, feel free to post them in the comments below.