Collective will can defeat the rapist

There is nothing more heinous than the violation of a woman’s or child’s body and it is increasingly happening in the country, sending the alarm bells ringing in every section of society.

About ten day after the horrendous rape-murder of a post-graduate medical student in Kolkata made citizens seethe with rage over the inefficiency of a system which allows such incidents to happen, came another piece of nauseating news from Badlapur in Thane, Maharashtra.

Two kids aged 3-4 years, had been sexually abused by a school attendant making the whole town hit the streets, stop trains and demand swift action in the case. Kids are easy prey for any form of abuse - sexual or otherwise - for they can hardly distinguish what is good and harmful for them.

Sexual abuse of kids is a growing cause of concern - in 2022, according to reports, as many as 38,911 cases of child rape and abuse were reported in the nation.

What is even more disconcerting is the fact that almost 28 per cent of children have admitted to experiencing some form of sexual crime in their growing years. And what is even more worrisome is that only 65 per cent of such crimes are properly reported.

How do we collectively fight this evil which leaves the victims scarred for life, forcing them to lead a life of embarrassment, humiliation and destroying whatever respect they have in society?

Training men of every age - young or old - has to start early and the habit of respecting others has to be ingrained deep in their psyche so that it acts as an effective buffer against any tendency to act violently against the opposite sex.

Institutions where girls and boys and men and women work or study together, should have effective mechanisms to monitor any aberrant behavior and correct them in time. 

Teachers, attendants and workers who are put in charge of children in particular, should be monitored regularly for behavioral traits which could at some point of time, render them unsuitable for handling young and innocent minds.

Kids should be taught in detail about how to sense an inappropriate touch so that the offenders are identified, segregated and punished in time. Self-protection is the best protection and this is something every girl or woman who feels a perceived threat, should be aware of.

Imparting of self-defense techniques should be made mandatory in educational institutions particularly for young girls so that it adds to their selfconfidence and makes them equipped to handle any threat in the vicinity.

It would also be in their best interests for women to carry self-defense gadgets which are available in abundant measure nowadays so that they can counter any threat to their safety.

But what will finally defeat the rapist or molester is an unflinching camaraderie between those who work or study closely together in institutions or move together in society and the sharing of vital information at crucial junctures.

For instance in Bengaluru the other day, the victim of a sexual assault had the presence of mind to send a SOS to a friend and her live location which helped them track her down and rescue her.

The assaulter has been nabbed within ten hours of the crime. It is this collective will to defeat evil and the evil-doer which will finally turn the tide against those who assume and wrongly so that they can have their way and trample on human dignity with impunity.

Exemplary punishment - like in the Delhi Nirbhaya case where all the accused were sent to the gallows, should be enough to make those harboring vile instincts of invading and destroying the privacy of the weak and young, to shudder in fear and abandon any such thoughts.