Aug 16, 2024 09:26 PM IST
Beyond the details of this crime, there is a horrible sense of déjà vu. Already, they’re calling the 32-year-old postgraduate doctor the “second Nirbhaya” in a sort of lazy shorthand that reminds us that, 12 years later, we are hearing the same story.
All she wanted at the end of a 36-hour shift was to rest. Since Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital does not have such a designated space for doctors, she did what the others do, find a quiet place for a nap — in this case, a seminar hall.
The complete facts are yet to emerge but the autopsy report makes for gruesome reading. There is evidence that she was raped and then killed. The police have arrested a civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy.
How did he access the seminar hall? Was he alone? How could there have been such a major security lapse? Who is responsible for a safe work environment for all medical staff? How do you explain the callous phone call received by her parents informing them their daughter had died by suicide?
The Calcutta high court has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and, hopefully, we should now have some semblance of professionalism, if not answers.
Beyond the details of this crime, there is a horrible sense of déjà vu. Already, they’re calling the 32-year-old postgraduate doctor the “second Nirbhaya” in a sort of lazy shorthand that reminds us that, 12 years later, we are hearing the same story.
Perhaps, the fault lies in assuming that our job was done after the law was changed in 2013. That we didn’t need to do the hard work with boys and men to change attitudes. That we need to start seeing women as empowered citizens and not hapless creatures who need protection.
Perhaps, the fault lies in how we respond, channelling our anger against some rapes but ignoring the child in the slum, the Dalit girls in Hathras and Unnao. We have turned rape into sport to score points. Those who shrugged off the violation of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Kathua are directing their outrage towards Mamata Banerjee.
Perhaps, the fault lies with a State that believes some rapes are less heinous than others. So, the men serving a life sentence for murder and the gang rape of Bilkis Bano walk out of jail after serving 14 years. Another rapist “Baba” Ram Rahim, sentenced to 20 years in jail, is out on his eighth furlough in three years.
Perhaps, the fault lies in our failure to recognise the rapist is not just a deranged stranger. Sexual assault takes place at sporting federations, in offices, in schools and coaching classes, and by husbands. But these are the rapes we don’t talk about.
I have no doubt that justice will be served in this case. The main accused, like the convicts in the December 2012 gang rape and murder, is expendable. It will take time to go through the legal process from conviction to appeal but, if his guilt is established, it will happen.
Our blood lust satisfied, we will go back to the business of pretending not to notice the everyday misogyny and the fact that women are not safe anywhere, not at home and certainly not at work.
Namita Bhandare writes on gender. The views expressed are personal
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