Teaching a Lesson

Few days back a BBC documentary “India’s Daughter” was launched depicting the facts and background of a cruel rape incident that took place in Delhi on December 2012. If you haven’t watched the documentary I suggest you all to watch it. There were few things, very notable, some truth and some insane beliefs, that made the documentary a controversy and was banned in India for so called security reasons. Despite of ban, the facts and figures of the documentary popped all over the social media. Different people had their own sayings and reasoning. Each with their own perspective about the crime. But before we go into the facts of the documentary, let me give you a brief glimpse of how intense the incident was. I was in Delhi when that incident took place. The headlines of the newspaper the other day were full of details of the incident. A girl was raped in a moving bus and was thrown out in the road. The matter would not have probably gone that huge but the brutality this time was unbearable. The victim was gang raped and her uterus was pulled out using a rod.  Some called it insanity and some called it vicious cruelty. Enough was enough, it was the ignition in the people’s frustration. And it rose a wave of revolution against women violence which was otherwise a common thing the people in Delhi lived with. The whole of Delhi marched with rage and the scene got worse when the protest went out of control. The protest went on for weeks and months in different forms. And finally the culprits were behind the bars. Slowly the facts came forth one by one. And this documentary released after about 3 years of the incident brought back that night of December that people had almost forgot.

Now let me move towards the point with small summary of the documentary. It starts with the girl’s background, her middle class family and she being the only child. Her parents wanted to get her married but she wanted to study medicine, so she requested her parents to invest the money saved for her marriage, for her education. She had completed her studies, finally she was a Doctor. Her parents were happy for her and everyone thought there is no looking back from now. In a society like that of north India she was ready to set an example being a provider for the family. Then everything collapsed, all dreams shattered, hope crushed due to someone’s evil deeds. In the documentary we can see the interview of one of the culprit. Mukesh, who claims to be driving the vehicle at the time of the incident and denies any involvement in the rape, says that the incident is not that intense or cruel like the way it is presented. He bargains that it was like any other rape that take place in Delhi in every two hours. He even points out that it was the fault of the victim for the rape to happen. As per him, the girl being alone with a boy at that hour of night was immoral. His friends wanted to teach her a lesson. They wanted to set an example so that no other girl in the nation shall commit such immorality. He even says that the victim should not have tried to fight back and should have enjoyed the rape. She would be alive. He even warns that punishing them would set a negative impact and as the rape wouldn’t stop to happen all the victims will now be killed. The documentary then explains the background of the culprits. All five of them are from slums in Delhi, very low standards of living. One of the culprits is even juvenile. The documentary shows the family background and also the interview with their relatives. As the court has given the verdict of hang till death to all the culprits except for the juvenile their relatives plead for forgiveness for their kin. And there is the other part of the documentary that outrages every human being that has a heart to respect a women. The interview with the defense lawyers. They sound more stupid than the culprit. The documentary ends with the protestors demanding the verdict of death for the juvenile as well. When you watch the documentary you will see for yourself the facts and will be able to realize how this incident is able to change your perspective towards different things.

But this is just one incident in Delhi. These type of incidents happen a lot in our societies, a lot are covered and hidden and the victims are traumatized and coerced. Some of these brutal acts come forth now and then, they are criticized as inhuman act, protested for few days and if no sooner settlements, the culprits get punished as well and after that its forgotten till a next incident takes place. And the similar incident shall again take place as the root cause, the evil in people’s mind, prejudices and loath is not destroyed. This time the evil shall show a higher level of brutality filled with fear and hate and this goes on failing the values and norms of the society ending in an anarchy. A very wise man once said, “If you believe that punishing an evil man does make a difference, then just think what difference will it make punishing the idea of evil”. Now we all agree to the fact that not a single person can be held responsible for such abhorrent acts. A sane mind never takes the decision of destroying someone’s life. There is a background story for all brutality. A gloomy shadowy side of the offender. Now after the culprit, the society, the governing bodies of the nations are held responsible. If gone further we point out the faults in our culture and scripture. But we don’t see it in ourselves. We forget the fact that we also are the part of the society and culture we are blaming. We are blaming ourselves but not improving. When I talk these points in my circle the most time I get a question in response, how? How to improve? We all want a crime free society, we don’t commit crime as well. A man gets drunk and murders another man, how can we stop that? People are different, each has a different intention, and we cannot get into other people’s brain! Although wanting a livable society, a safe life we become the prey of someone’s evil needs. How can we be responsible for that? The answer is even I don’t know. I don’t know how to make a perfect livable society without fear of other’s intrusion in our life. I can only suggest to be spontaneous. People preach, don’t do evil but react when you see evil being done. Don’t let other people intrude into your life. React! Don’t stay silent, don’t ignore! Maybe that’s the most we can do from our side.

Now allow me to quote some examples from my surrounding, to illustrate the birth of evil. Let’s take the latest sensational acid attack in Kathmandu. This is a perfect example of how influenced and biased we are. This incident proves that evil lies among us. The incident was, a boy attacked a girl with acid hurting her and her other two friends badly. They were hospitalized and the city marched on the roads asking for justice. The topic revolved all around the social media. The story of the girls went viral, everyone sympathized for what they went through. Everyone gave their thoughts about the brutality and insanity of the incident. There was just one voice from the public, a demand to set an example by punishing the culprit harshly. Finally the boy was caught and his part of the story unfolded. A poor boy, rejected for being a so called lower caste. Bullied and traumatized both physically and mentally, he faced so much pain and anxiety that he could live it no more. It was only the revenge he could seek. So the attack was the result of that seek for revenge. When this story unfolded the whole society now got divided into two halves. The people shouting till now demanding an exemplary harsh punishment started to praise the culprit for his mighty work. Slowly the case drifted from its main agenda. I can clearly see, it’s no more about the brutal attack. It’s now about the differences of caste, about the rich and poor and about a crime and revenge. The boy finally acted. Exhausted and frustrated he thought of teaching them a lesson of lifetime that how it feels to be intruded and attacked. This offender is only a representation of stories of frustration in the people of the city. People are discriminated for caste, color, race, for something they are not responsible for. They are intruded and hated. Frustration multiplies with hate and the evil is born which degrades the weak walls of the society. As I see at the streets, those little kids in the streets, begging for some money. Some people are kind enough to provide them and some gives them their part of hate and frustrations. I see a little boy, messy with dirt and dirty torn clothes looking at other boy, in a clean school uniform, eating delicious food with people loving him. The boy doesn’t understand why he hasn’t that privilege. He doesn’t know why there is a difference between him and the clean boy. He asked himself why isn’t is he loved? What’s his fault for the life he got? And there is another boy, in his teenage. He is a bus conductor. He earns to provide for himself and his parents. How hard he tries it’s never enough to even survive and he has slept a lots of nights with hungry stomach. Few boys of his age climb into the bus with fancy dresses and expensive gadgets. They talk about schools and cinemas. The boy looks at them and fancies himself in their dress, living their life. He can’t understand why he is poor and they are rich. No one can explain him the reasons. Then what comes next can be easily anticipated. The poor bus conductor or the beggar boy live a poor frustrating life. Without proper education and nutrition they are never able to fit for a decent post. They will not be able to provide for their family and their children will go through the same phase they went through. On the other hand, the properly educated and nourished kid will get all the success he wants and grows richer. In this way the disparity, the wall of differences grow only thicker. And when the frustrations crosses the limit bearable it strikes back. This is how evil is born. This is the reason for Darburmarg acid kanda or Mudrika gang rape Kanda. It’s all about revenge, teaching a lesson.