Awakening conscious!!!

Awakening conscious !!!

 The reported Nari Niketan rape case at Chandigarh must have touched the conscious of many a persons in the city. All sections of the media, NGOs et al were at their top brim in condemning the case. However, not all this bothered the mentally challenged victim. She was neither aware of the challenges of the ‘motherhood’ foisted on her by the perpetrators nor as to how she will rear the child given her mentally challenged condition.

 A debate that ensued in the city related to whether she should be allowed to give birth to the child or not in her present state.  Punjab and Haryana High Court permitted the abortion on the fetus and the Supreme Court of India subsequently reversed the ruling. Now, that the Supreme Court of India has ruled in the case basing its judgments on the assurances of some NGOs including a Delhi based National Trust for welfare of persons with Autisms, Cerebral Palsy, Mental retardation and Multiple Disability of taking care of the victim and the Child.

 However, this action has been taken without setting a mechanism for the ‘care’ these NGOs have promised to provide. The incident occurred when the victim was in the custody of the Chandigarh Administration. Who will stand guarantee to the security of the child. It now seems all parties involved in providing the offered’ care and security’ are busy finding escapist routes on the issue. For all, that one can generalize is that despite all promising of the concerned, the victim shall ultimately be herself responsible   to fend for her and her to be borne child with a stigma of ‘illegitimate child’.

 The war of attrition going on between the Delhi based National Trust and the Chandigarh Administration makes a funny scenario, wherein the former has come out with a package of cash and insurance for the victim and the latter filing an affidavit undertaking to take’ care of the to be borne child  from birth to marriage. Escaping responsibility by the NGOs and the Administration is quite evident. Public memory being too short, Can anybody say with certainty that all the parties now offering packages of cash and security shall be found working on the case say after a decade. Many will doubt this proposition.

 In this backdrop, one has also to recount the state of sexual harassment being committed on our womenfolk, irrespective of their age. The perpetrators unashamedly have been found indulging in this nefarious task of sexual harassment and eve teasing with impunity, with administration keeping shuteyes. Such persons go scot-free of any police action.

 This leads us to the question as to where we are heading to, socially. Have we forgotten all our social etiquettes and practices? It is quite common to see girls being pinched on their backs or passing of filthy remarks. If the criminal is well connected, he can even take recourse abusing the respectability of the victim. We watch this vandalism mutely.

 I had read somewhere that some kind of consciousness is coming among girls that they have devised methods to counter this kind of vandalism to protect them, but what  shall be the case of this poor mentally challenged victim of the heinous rape. The issue may slip out of the minds of the people and then whatever packages are being offered now to this hapless victim may gradually vanish. The girl who does not know her own state of affairs shall never be able to run operation of the money placed at her disposal and the so-called benefactors may eventually be the beneficiaries.

 Administration is acting in this case and one more person is reported arrested in the case. To what these arrests may lead to is any body’s guess. However, it is time we ponder over the situation of victims in such rape case and come forward to devise ways so that ugly head of the perpetrators of such crimes is arrested. Society has to do meaningful work for these hapless victims.

Satish Chandra Sharma

General Secretary,

Chandigarh Social welfare council,